Support NeoGAF

[Birbo]

Is it possible to get the Google Music app to run on a Kindle Fire HDX without rooting it?

 

[Canon]

Looking for a new video card to replace Radeon HD 5830.

I want to run games at similar performance on 2560x1600 resolution. But I want it as cheap as possible.

PC specs (from 2009)
Intel Core i7 920
6 GB of DDR 3 ram
256 GB SSD + 600 GB HDD
750 watt power supply
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 mobo
HD 5830 1 GB graphics card (to replace)

 

[Cyan]

Ok, this isn't exactly a tech support question, more that I'm looking for some kind of tool or software.

So, Windows has this really annoying behavior when changing resolutions. Icons on the desktop get scattered all over the damn place. This happens all the time on my work computer, because it's a laptop that docks and hooks up to two monitors, so anytime I undock it, bam, icons everywhere.

Basically what I'm looking for is either a tool that prevents this, or that helps recover from it. Like, if I could run something real quick when I dock my laptop, that puts everything back in the right place, that'd be awesome.

I've tried out Fences, but it has some really annoying aspects that I don't like. Any other suggestions?

For anyone else having this problem, I've started using the free utility ReIcon, which does exactly what I want it to do with minimal intrusion. It adds a context menu when right-clicking on your desktop that lets you save the current icon layout or reload a previously saved layout. Simple and quick.

 

[Rhaknar]

about to build a new computer with some advice from some gaffers I settled on a i5 4690k, 16gb ddr3, a ssd for the OS and 2tb hdd for the rest, and a gtx 970

I want something that will last be the generation (so 5 years give or take) and was told this should do it, especially since I only want to do 1080p/60fps anyway (I sit really close to my monitor and dont really want to get a new one)

but reading through the GTX980/970 thread it seems everybody and their uncle has a i7 not a i5 so now im having second thoughts

 

[Schrade]

For anyone else having this problem, I've started using the free utility ReIcon, which does exactly what I want it to do with minimal intrusion. It adds a context menu when right-clicking on your desktop that lets you save the current icon layout or reload a previously saved layout. Simple and quick.

Sorry I missed your original posting.

Iconoid would do what you want: http://www.sillysot.com/

It has the same feature you described above and also hides icons after a certain timeout if you want to make your desktop look clean.

 

[Amagon]

Okay, I'm in a pickle at the moment. I had to reformat my hdd which was running Windows 8.1 Pro. I'm reusing the product key to reinstall Windows on the reformatted hdd and now, I'm getting a message that the product key is not activated and I need to buy a new key to activate Windows.

What is the protocol on what to do next? I never deactivated the product key on the hdd before it got reformatted. Its already bad enough my slave drive got reformatted too without me knowing it.

Help.

 

[Ettie]

TechSupport Gaf, my wife's PC won't boot, and I fear I'll be banished to the couch if I don't get a fix together soon.

When I turn it on, I get the initial POST beep and then the ram is recognized. Then, before the drives are recognized, it reboots, and will do this until I turn it off with the power button. I thought maybe I had a power supply problem, but my tester shows it as good, and a substitute part yielded the same results.

So.

Chasing down what might cause such a near instant restart after POST, I started looking for heat. Sure enough, the terrible stock intel cooler had popped one of the pegs off and the thing was loose enough to wobble. So I reseated that, and it started and ran fine. I thought the problem was solved, but the next morning, same problem. I pushed on all the pegs and tried again, and it started without issue and ran fine all night. My conclusion was that the cooler sucked, so I bought a CM 212 Evo and put it on the board this morning. First start up, same problem. RAAAAAGGGEEE.

Anyone have any ideas? I put a pea-sized drop of thermal compound on the cpu prior to seating the new cooler, it seems very tight and secure in it's current location.

 

[alejob]

Okay, I'm in a pickle at the moment. I had to reformat my hdd which was running Windows 8.1 Pro. I'm reusing the product key to reinstall Windows on the reformatted hdd and now, I'm getting a message that the product key is not activated and I need to buy a new key to activate Windows.

What is the protocol on what to do next? I never deactivated the product key on the hdd before it got reformatted. Its already bad enough my slave drive got reformatted too without me knowing it.

Help.

What disk are you using to reload your windows 8? You can't just use anything and put your license key.

 

[Amagon]

What disk are you using to reload your windows 8? You can't just use anything and put your license key.

I'm using Windows 8.1 Pro

 

[Prez]

I'm using my brother's 6 year old Toshiba P300 laptop and I'm getting pretty high temperatures. I already underclocked the CPU to 75% max in the power settings and this is what I'm getting after 2 hours of light browsing and nothing else:

The GPU temps seem way too high for what I'm doing. It's already set on "maximum battery life" in the power settings. Anything else I can do to cool down/underclock the GPU? I know I should clean the fan but that takes an insane amount of disassembly on Toshiba laptops and I'd rather not risk breaking anything.

 

[Visualante2]

I have been having some blue screen errors on my Windows 7 computer, it usually happens when I'm watching a video in YouTube, but it can also be other videos online. This all started when I installed some stupid AMD Gaming Evolved app, which proceded to reinstall some things that were out of date.

I've tried the following:
Uninstalling flash
Cleaning drivers in safe mode, reinstalling drivers without CCC
Manually expanding the atikmdag.sys file (present in the blue screen)
Reinstalled browser, disabled browser plugins
Removing dust from the PC

Currently I'm testing with hardware acceleration disabled in Firefox to see if that was the problem, I have my doubts.

 

[crooked spin]

Weird issue that began suddenly this morning: Computer won't boot and the LED ring on my case (Define R4) blinks really slowly (usually it is a steady blue light). I open the case and see the rear fan is not working but all other case fans and the CPU fans are working.

Seems like it's trying to boot and being unable to? Is it because of the fan not working or could there be another issue?

 

[Oozer3993]

I am having the weirdest problem with my laptop (which runs Windows 8.1) right now. I can't connect to Xbox.com (the browser times out before ever connecting) and Microsoft.com is loading slowly and incompletely (all the images are broken). Other Microsoft websites work (Bing, MSN, Outlook). This happens in Chrome, IE, and Firefox. Every other website is just fine. Every other computer in the house can load Xbox.com as can my phone and tablet. Wired or wireless, it doesn't matter (though I can load the site if I connect directly to the modem). Here's what I've tried so far without success:

* Restarted the router (multiple times)
* Cleared the cache and cookies in Chrome
* Renewed my local IP address
* Power cycled the modem
* Tried different DNS servers (I use Google DNS servers normally, but neither my ISP's nor OpenDNS worked either)
* Tried connecting to the other router in my house (both wired and wireless).
* Cleared my laptop's DNS cache using ipconfig /flushdns
* I found a site saying logging into Live.com then going to Xbox.com can fix it, but that didn't work.

My setup is internet from a cable modem sent to a wireless router. That router is connected via Ethernet to another wireless router in another part of the house so that the farther reaches of the house can get internet. My laptop uses that second router, but it can't load Xbox.com even if I connect to the first router. Additionally, I ran a scan using Malwarebytes and it found nothing.

 

[Daniel B·]

Just a heads up; I was getting a BSOD, followed by a corrupted BIOS (checksum error), signified by just three beeps on my ThinkPad T61 (screen didn't power up - as mentioned in previous post, had to remove CMOS battery to force reset). Turned out uninstalling Ask Toolbar, which didn't install properly anyway (for Chrome), fixed issue. Not good that software (Ask Toolbar and or Chrome) is capable of corrupting BIOS data...

 

[opticalmace]

I have a BenQ XL2411Z, using DVI. Sometimes on boot it says "no signal detected." If I switch to HDMI it always is detected, or if I enable DVI once I'm in Windows it's fine. I want to just use DVI all the time though (for 144Hz ness) and ignore HDMI.

Any ideas?

edit: I'm using a Sapphire Radeon 6950.

edit2: returned the monitor, couldn't find a solution.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Aggravating Excel error:

In some of the worksheets I am working in, I cannot two finger scroll up and down with my trackpad unless I right-click a cell, hover over the ribbon at the top (or anywhere not directly over the workbook), or triple click a specific cell.

In other spreadsheets, it works just fine how it always has. Please help me!!!

 

[F!ReW!Re]

Going to be staying in China for a while...
Any good VPN service recommendations??

 

[Cvijo]

Hello people, i have a problem, my PC is randomly shutting down and I don't know why. I don't think it's overheating, but how would I know if it is overheating?

 

[opticalmace]

Hello people, i have a problem, my PC is randomly shutting down and I don't know why. I don't think it's overheating, but how would I know if it is overheating?

First thing is I'd check the CPU temps. You can either see them in the BIOS (normally), or you can download a program that can check them for you, such as Speccy, RealTemp, CoreTemp, etc.

If the CPU is not overheating, then I would check the memory and power supply. You can do this with MemTest (for the former) and by swapping out a spare PSU (if you have one, for the latter). If you grab Speccy you can check the GPU temperature as well.

Could be other things I suppose but maybe start there. It might be smart to list your PC specs here too if you know them. If not Speccy will give you them.

 

[SuicideUZI]

Going to be staying in China for a while...
Any good VPN service recommendations??

I use privateinternetaccess and I'm pretty satisfied with them. If you pay for a full year in advance its cheaper than a lot of the other ones and they have a lot of servers to choose from. I can't get my full 50mbit download through all of the servers but usually if I need to I can switch around until I find one that does max out my connection. Sometimes I even get faster speeds connecting through the VPN because of time warners throttling bullshit. I'll be on YouTube sometimes and can barely get a video to play, connect to the VPN and the video plays pretty much instantly without any buffering.

 

[Loofy]

Is it normal for my harddrive to take 4 seconds to spin up?

I have my OS on an SSD but when I have to look into the HDD it stalls for bit.

 

[opticalmace]

Is it normal for my harddrive to take 4 seconds to spin up?

I have my OS on an SSD but when I have to look into the HDD it stalls for bit.

If it's the first time you've accessed it since boot, then yes, I think that's normal. Someone else might have more info though.

 

[Cvijo]

First thing is I'd check the CPU temps. You can either see them in the BIOS (normally), or you can download a program that can check them for you, such as Speccy, RealTemp, CoreTemp, etc.

If the CPU is not overheating, then I would check the memory and power supply. You can do this with MemTest (for the former) and by swapping out a spare PSU (if you have one, for the latter). If you grab Speccy you can check the GPU temperature as well.

Could be other things I suppose but maybe start there. It might be smart to list your PC specs here too if you know them. If not Speccy will give you them.

So CPU temps look fine, 20C normal and about 40-49C when playing a game, I tested the RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic tool and it seems to be fine, I didn't test GPU but i think it's fine.
Now my specs are: Gtx 760(Gigabyte), AMD FX-8320, G.Skill 8GB RAM RipJaws, WD Caviar Blue 1T, Corsair CX600 and GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3.

Now lets suppouse it's the PSU, how would I be able to check without a spare one.
I will also try to wipe the HDD and reinstall windows.

 

[Con_Smith]

Didn't want to start a new thread and figured this would be as best a place as any to ask. I need help for a new tech support job involving networking and would be much obliged if anyone would help me with the harder technical questions that may appear on the test. Would be willing to offer some live/psn/steam credit for help to anyone with some free time tonight. Just need someone to chat on hangouts and when the hard questions hit point me in the right direction answer wise.

You'd be doing my paycheck and career a solid. just hit me with a pm if you're interested.

 

[kennah]

Didn't want to start a new thread and figured this would be as best a place as any to ask. I need help for a new tech support job involving networking and would be much obliged if anyone would help me with the harder technical questions that may appear on the test. Would be willing to offer some live/psn/steam credit for help to anyone with some free time tonight. Just need someone to chat on hangouts and when the hard questions hit point me in the right direction answer wise.

You'd be doing my paycheck and career a solid. just hit me with a pm if you're interested.

Or you could not cheat?

 

[opticalmace]

So CPU temps look fine, 20C normal and about 40-49C when playing a game, I tested the RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic tool and it seems to be fine, I didn't test GPU but i think it's fine.
Now my specs are: Gtx 760(Gigabyte), AMD FX-8320, G.Skill 8GB RAM RipJaws, WD Caviar Blue 1T, Corsair CX600 and GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3.

Now lets suppouse it's the PSU, how would I be able to check without a spare one.
I will also try to wipe the HDD and reinstall windows.

Does it only reboot when playing games? Do you have a local computer shop? They could test your PSU for you. If you have a multimeter you could test it yourself.

I suggest you post your problem (and what you've tried so far) in the PC thread, you'll get more feedback and probably quite promptly. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=835397

 

[AlteredBeast]

Ok...now mouse scrolling doesn't work at all in Excel 2010...Please help, anybody!

The only workaround is to double-click into a cell so that it has a blinking cursor line, then I can scroll through the whole page. Once I click off of that cell, it goes back to being frozen in time...WHAT!!

 

[DrTeflon]

Gaf, help me out.

I have a sapphire 7950, I was playing some alien isolation yesterday when my screen went Gray with Black stripes . I though it was only a bug or driver crash

On another game, nba2k15 and project cars the same thing happened. I could play for a while, then black or Grey screen.

Checked temperatures with msi afterburner and Everything looked normal (60 celsius while under heavy Lord. Ie: Rain on project cars). Voltage seems ok and all. Tried updating my drivers but nothing.

Now, everytime i boot Windows (8.1 or 10 technical preview) it works for a while then the screen goes white.
I can assume that the gpu is pretttyyyyyyy much dead, right?


I took these photos below, dont know how much it would help (srry for shitty Phone quality)

 

[wanders]

Hey gaf

I just obtained a new router (Asus AC68U) but I am getting really crappy WiFi speeds compared to a physical connection even while Im right next to the router

I know that WiFi speeds would never come close to a direct connection but Im going from 120Mbps to 20Mbps

Any suggestions?

 

[Persona7]

Hey gaf

I just obtained a new router (Asus AC68U) but I am getting really crappy WiFi speeds compared to a physical connection even while Im right next to the router

I know that WiFi speeds would never come close to a direct connection but Im going from 120Mbps to 20Mbps

Any suggestions?

Are you using wireless N? Try setting it to N only and make sure you are using wpa2.


make sure you have the latest firmware and only upgrade it over a wired connection.

 

[wanders]

Are you using wireless N? Try setting it to N only and make sure you are using wpa2.


make sure you have the latest firmware and only upgrade it over a wired connection.

Tried that and testing it on my iphone. Yup its still bad

This is a router provided by Tmobile but its pretty high end; it retails for $200 I think.

 

[Cvijo]

So I formated the hard drive and installed windows 8.1(from 7) and it seems that it's working fine, it didn't die on me yet so lets hope it works now.

 

[Zoe]

So, my laptop got Cryptowall'd.

The damage isn't actually that bad because I have 99% of my files in unusual locations, but I still want to reformat to be safe. Do I need to worry about any remnants of the virus as I move the remaining files around? Is it safe to hook up an external drive or should I stick the laptop drive into an enclosure?

 

[MC_Hify]

Hey guys, I recently put together a new PC and everything seems to be going well with it, except for one thing. About half the time that I boot into Windows 7 my monitor is not detected. I see the POST screen and "Windows is starting" but after that about half the time the screen will go black and I need to reset my system to get my monitor to be detected. I'm connected through DisplayPort by the way. Anyone have any ideas about this? Here is my build:

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qfcTjX) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qfcTjX/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80648i75820k) | $378.92 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $28.99 @ Micro Center
**Motherboard** | [MSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-x99ssliplus) | $224.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-memory-bls4k8g4d240fsa) | $449.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Samsung 850 Pro Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7ke1t0bw) | $649.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10spcx) | $96.48 @ SuperBiiz
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp42982kr) | $575.91 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr4bl) | $109.98 @ OutletPC
**Power Supply** | [Cooler Master V850 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-power-supply-rs850afbag1us) | $159.99 @ Newegg
**Optical Drive** | [Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-bc12b1stblkbas) | $57.31 @ OutletPC
**Monitor** | [Asus PB287Q 60Hz 28.0" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-pb287q) | $609.99 @ Amazon
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $3342.54
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-08 17:04 EDT-0400 |

 

[uncredited male]

Hello GAF. My folks have an old system that I need to get a new OS on because of XP. The CPU is this behemoth.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27491/Pentium-4-Processor-Extreme-Edition-supporting-HT-Technology-3_46-GHz-2M-Cache-1066-MHz-FSB

I have an old SSD I am going to hook up and was going to put on Win 7 but they say 8 would be faster but I am unsure if the CPU is supported. I know it can do 64-bit, but I had to replace the original ASUS mobo with some Intel LGA775 version so I don't know if I have to verify 64bit support for that as well. I am also unsure if all the operations needed for 8 are present on the CPU.

So Win 7, or maybe Win 8 with 64bit?

 

[mrmisterwaa]

Hey gaf

I just obtained a new router (Asus AC68U) but I am getting really crappy WiFi speeds compared to a physical connection even while Im right next to the router

I know that WiFi speeds would never come close to a direct connection but Im going from 120Mbps to 20Mbps

Any suggestions?

What is the wi-fi adapter on your computer?

I have that exact router - I have wireless N on my PC and AC on my phone. This may be a driver issue (or you just do not have a good AC adapter.

Hello GAF. My folks have an old system that I need to get a new OS on because of XP. The CPU is this behemoth.

http://ark.intel.com/products/27491/Pentium-4-Processor-Extreme-Edition-supporting-HT-Technology-3_46-GHz-2M-Cache-1066-MHz-FSB

I have an old SSD I am going to hook up and was going to put on Win 7 but they say 8 would be faster but I am unsure if the CPU is supported. I know it can do 64-bit, but I had to replace the original ASUS mobo with some Intel LGA775 version so I don't know if I have to verify 64bit support for that as well. I am also unsure if all the operations needed for 8 are present on the CPU.

So Win 7, or maybe Win 8 with 64bit?

Windows 8 does have a marginal performance boost over Windows 7.

From a quick google search that current Processor does not have XD bit support.

Windows 8 has a hardware requirement of XD-Bit support to install/function.

If you plan on using an SSD - You won't feel the difference (or at least your parents won't) on Windows 7.

 

[uncredited male]

Windows 8 does have a marginal performance boost over Windows 7.

From a quick google search that current Processor does not have XD bit support.

Windows 8 has a hardware requirement of XD-Bit support to install/function.

If you plan on using an SSD - You won't feel the difference (or at least your parents won't) on Windows 7.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[opticalmace]

Gaf, help me out.

I have a sapphire 7950, I was playing some alien isolation yesterday when my screen went Gray with Black stripes . I though it was only a bug or driver crash

On another game, nba2k15 and project cars the same thing happened. I could play for a while, then black or Grey screen.

Checked temperatures with msi afterburner and Everything looked normal (60 celsius while under heavy Lord. Ie: Rain on project cars). Voltage seems ok and all. Tried updating my drivers but nothing.

Now, everytime i boot Windows (8.1 or 10 technical preview) it works for a while then the screen goes white.
I can assume that the gpu is pretttyyyyyyy much dead, right?


I took these photos below, dont know how much it would help (srry for shitty Phone quality)

Not lookin' good. Try just using integrated graphics or another video card to see if the problem goes away, if you can.

 

[A Human Becoming]

For some months now my mother's laptop randomly drops internet connection. It seemed to be the wi-fi adapter, as it was asking to turn on wireless capability, but updating the drivers didn't fix the problem. She's running Windows 7.

 

[thequickandthedead]

I gave my busted PC to a repair shop. After confirming the motherboard was fried i told him i was considering paying to recover my data. A day later he recovered about 140gb out 400gb even though i hadn't told him to. Now when i asked him to give my PC without the data he relented but warned me that i would not be able to get my data back anymore because it was in recovery mode or somthing.

Was he telling the truth?

 

[Servizio]

So, this is what's happened:

I ran Disk Cleanup on my C:\ drive, and it said it was going to clean up an amount of files larger than my actual drive. It's only a small SSD. I obviously should have stopped there, but I was super tired at the time and did it anyway. Computer continues to run, but I notice I'm having some odd things happening. Volume control on my taskbar won't show up, I run Disk Cleaner again and hit the Clean System files button and nothing happens. Somewhere mentions that Disk Cleanup needs to restart to clean up update files, so I restart.

The computer will now only boot to the Automated Startup Repair tool, which fails to fix anything. I also apparently don't have any System Restore points saved, which is odd since I thought Win7 always had at least the latest one saved. The error the ASR pops at this time is "NoOSLoader".

I've tried a lot fixes and so far none of them have done anything. They've included renaming and moving registry hive files, running the various bootrec programs. Now the error that pops up is "NoOSInstalled" which really doesn't seem like an improvement.

I think I have to do a fresh install of Windows 7. My current idea is to use xcopy to copy the entirety of my Windows SSD drive to one of my bigger storage drives.

If I use: xcopy C:\*.* D:\WindowsBackup\ /s /e

Will that work? From what I understand, xcopy doesn't copy protected windows files but I'm not sure if I care, compared to saving my desktop contents and user files. But if I can restore my previous installation, that would be nice. But I'm not super hopeful at the moment.

Any ideas, corrections, suggestions?

 

[wilflare]

not sure where else I should ask
how should go about getting surround sound to my headphones (Fidelio X1)
when playing Netflix movies or Anime with surround audio?

my soundcard is Creative Sound Blaster Z

 

[LogicStep]

My enter key is not working correctly when using Calculator, same with Notepad. Instead of going to a new line/working as =, it's working as a Tab key. How do I fix this, this is ruining my efficiency with the damn calculator. I think this started after the motherboard was replaced.

Edit: Nevermind, it's fixed but I'm not sure how...

Edit 2: aaaand it's broken again..

 

[cacildo]

Hi. I have an HDD problem

I just got a WD20EZRX HDD for my recently assembled computer

I tried to install windows 7 into it... and it took 24 hours and gave me an error at the end

I tried to install windows 8 into it, and it was taking so long that i just gave up.

Plugged it into an HDD docking i have and into my wife´s computer. Then i got the following

- My wife´s computer took at least one hour to finally be able to acess the HDD. That green windows 7 bar just got on and on until full.

- Got to computer management to format the drive. It took 3 hours

- I got to test the hdd making a copy of pictures into it.
The test was sucessful, i got to copy the files into it. And open the pictures.
But it was SLOW. Copying a 300kb picture took more than a minute. It opened up "preparing to copy" window

- Got a first run with Western Digital Diagnostics software. It stopped with 10-15 minutes, saying "too many bad blocks". I wasnt ok with this results because it felt it gave up because of eletric flutuations

- Right now im running diagnostic software again. Already 30minutes in. Its asking for more 15 hours. And that´s the quick diagnostic option


HAve any of you ever saw something like this. Its like... the HDD is working (to some extent, but i couldnt finish the Windows instalation), its just incredibly slow.

Im almost returning it... i got it over the internet so they will have to come and collect it and urgh... more time lost.

 

[Rufus]

Almost? Return it immediately, that thing is broken.

 

[Choppasmith]

Hey TechSupport GAF, I have bit of a dilemma.

I bought a used HTPC from a Gaffer a couple of years ago to run XBMC. It was running fine for the longest time but a couple months ago I was getting Windows Validation errors, and a window would always try to pop up in the background while running XBMC.

I never got a Windows disk or a Key (Just a box with some of the motherboard/case manuals)

What would be my best option? Would going up to Windows 8.1 be worth it? Are there any hitches I should know about? I'm thinking of upgrading from 32 to 64 bit anyway. Also do Validation issues usually cause crashes/shutoffs? A lot of times lately the computer will just completely freeze or it'll shut down about 10 minutes after starting it up, but then once I start it back up it's fine (save for the background windows that keeps causing XBMC to lose focus)

 

[cacildo]

Almost? Return it immediately, that thing is broken.

Thanks. Have to go to the post office tomorrow to post it

 

[cacildo]

Sometimes is HARD to find some info on the internet....

SO, i have a new 2TB hdd.

I want to install Windows 8 into it.

But first i plugged it into my wife´s computer.

It asks me if i want it to be formated on MBR or GPT mode

Which one should i choose?


(Ive never saw this before. It was tough enough for me to memorize Fat32 and NTFS)

 

[Xanonano]

Sometimes is HARD to find some info on the internet....

SO, i have a new 2TB hdd.

I want to install Windows 8 into it.

But first i plugged it into my wife´s computer.

It asks me if i want it to be formated on MBR or GPT mode

Which one should i choose?


(Ive never saw this before. It was tough enough for me to memorize Fat32 and NTFS)

If your motherboard is a recent one, choose GPT. It will allow you to boot in UEFI mode, meaning it'll boot up quicker and you'll hardly see the BIOS screen. MBR only supports hard disks up to 2TB, but that's not relevant in this case.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Just noticed today that a few websites are not working on my computer, in mozilla or chrome. When I googled the issue I saw a list of various mozilla support pages, but when I click those I get an automatic "server not found" page. Any ideas?

(Windows 7)

edit: I fixed it by changing my Local Area Connection to Obtain the dns automatically. It had been set to use a specific, wrong one somehow.