The Computer Hardware and Software Thread

[Warduke]

I can't even remember the last time I had a pop up, and that's because I use Mozilla

---

Lil' Trevor : Always the life of the party.

[The Shadowcat]

I think you just made Brian's day. He loves any chance he can get to pimp out his favorite browser.

[justin]

Though you have to be aware that there are some sites (particularly proboards) that can detect when you're using popup killers like the one in Mozilla and refuse to display properly.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[xita]

If you use mozilla and you encounter a site that has pop up ads and won't let you view it right without them, you can make that site exempt in Mozilla and allow it to display the pop up for that site only. I allow popups from here and say tvguide.com (since I like my program details popping up).



If you use tabbrowser extensions for mozilla you can even have that pop up display itself as a tab instead.



If you insist on using IE , I've used popup stopper before. They have a free product if you scroll down, as well as ones you have to buy.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[sam7777]

Once you use tabbed browsing in Mozilla, you can't go back. At least I could not. I used to use a combo of Smasher and IE but that was always Kludgy. Sometime there are sites that have a problem with Mozilla but I usally give up on the site rather than fire up IE.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[MaClayMagic]

After spending a red hot day slaving over a computer that just will NOT work, I throw myself on the mercy of the kittens and hope you can help! I have upgraded my computer to Windows XP, downloaded Windows media player 9 and now none of my downloaded videos will play right. Oddly enough they do on the same system on my laptop, but on the main computer the video is fine but the sound is dragging. Every song sounds like it's being played in slow-mo! Any ideas?? Thank you!!

"The world feels so much better when you find you don't fit

There's a ladder in my tights and who gives a **** if woops you ain't shiney and perfect" - Amy Studt

[cattwoman98111]

ok my question is about patches for pc games. more specificly a patch for Sims.

If i install this and at a later time decide i do not like it, can i take it out? or if i perform a restore (windows ME) will that only restore the computer settings and not the games settings?

i have had many computer problems in the past few months and have had to re-install the game several times, as you all know that means i have to start all over again.

i would like to prevent this if at all possible.





P.S. I use Spybot and Ad Aware. they seem to help with all those pesky Backlite and Wallite downloads that automaticly attach to your system. and they are free. this seems to have greatly reduced the amount of pop ups and the system seems to run smoother.

thanks all

catt



I want it. Give it to me. I love it. 7-Year Bitch

[MaClayMagic]

Here's my last query for today before that dang computer goes out the window!! Same computer, Windows XP, and my USB ports keep failing to work, which makes it VERY difficult to use my keyboard, mouse and printer! Can you see how very frustrating all this is?!! It's making me crazy! Any ideas on this problem? If it's a long wordy reply you can find my email addy in my profile. Anyone writing to advise me to chuck the dang machine will be listened to!! I want my 'puter to work! It's too hot to have a laptop on my lap!!

"The world feels so much better when you find you don't fit

There's a ladder in my tights and who gives a **** if woops you ain't shiney and perfect" - Amy Studt

[xita]

MaClayMagic, have you tried unisntalling windows media player? You can removed it in the add remove programs from the control panel but once that window open you have to choose add/remove windows components which is two icons down. Also, I had problems with windows xp seeing my cd rom drives correctly and only reinstalling windows from scratch helped..



catt, I don't know much about sims but I would assume there is a file you can save that has your saved info on it. I don't know though. Also restore would not restore game settings. Also, there is an old w/t sims thread that had people posting there who might be able to answer your sims questions better, or they might pop in here

- - - - - - - - - - -
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[Evercat]

Hmm, since this thread is here, I'll ask about my computer troubles.



My computer is sooooo loud. I'm pretty sure it's the main fan, since the humming continues even if the hard drive spins down.



Oddly, the hum seems to increase when the processor is doing some intensive task. Can the processor itself make noise?



Anyhow, I was thinking water-cooling would make a difference. Anyone tried this? Quieter?

--
10^57 varieties

[justin]

Evercat most modern computers have a fan on the CPU (also one on the graphics card) so that'll be why the noise increases when the CPU is busy.



A water cooled system will be quieter but before you do anything that drastic you might want to look into fiting quieter fans.



If you go here: cooling



There's a list of fan manufacturers.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[The Shadowcat]

MaClayMagic, it sounds like you have a series of problems which may just be a bad install. Have you done a windows update since your install of xp? It could be that there are patches which fix your problems. I know that Media Player has had a host of bugs, and they keep including fixes in the updates. Try these. Only go to the next step if the last one didn't work.



1. Utilize Windows Update

2. Uninstall and reinstall Media Player

3. Reinstall sound driver



Now, as far as your USB problem, I'd recommend reinstalling the usb hub. If that doesn't work, then you may have to just reinstall XP.



Try looking in Device Manager to see if anything is listed with a yellow or red mark. Make sure you check under Universal Serial Bus controllers, as that is one of the things you are having trouble with.



If you need more help, send me an email. I'd rather not give you a long list of instructions. Too much opportunity for user error.

[MaClayMagic]

Thanks to Xita and Shadowcat,

I'm off to try all that you suggest. We have had to face the fact that, after three years of constant problems with this machine, we might just have one that deserves to be put to rest....preferably from a very tall building!!! I wouldn't begin to write here all that the machine has wrong with it. Did I mention it was a Packard Bell?!!!

Shadowcat, thanks for the advise, we will try it out. XP has been reinstalled about 4 times because of the usb ports not working. The crazy thing? The keyboard and mouse are working today!

"The world feels so much better when you find you don't fit

There's a ladder in my tights and who gives a **** if woops you ain't shiney and perfect" - Amy Studt

[Grimlock72]

MaClayMagic,



Since you seem to have a lot of USB related problems; did you install Service Pack 1 already ? (Windows Update will do it for you). If so, did you install mainboard specific USB drivers if those were provided (seperate CD) ? (most of such drivers only install AFTER Service Pack 1)



Refusal to play certain movies is likely a codec problem, which usually means you just have to install a program which tells mediaplayer how to display some movie. (i.e. divx 5.05 and xvid, or ac3 for sound... all easy to get and install).



I don't know anything specific about Packard Bells so thats for other to handle. Do you know the type#/name of your model, might help to look up whats in it.



Good luck.



Grimmy

[The Shadowcat]

They're not called Crappard Hell's for nothing.



I found a dinky little help page that basically reiterates things in a clearer fashion.



www.packardbell.com.my/Su....asp?CID=1



Did you have USB problems before you upgraded to XP? It might just be that your motherboard has problems, and there's nothing you can do for it.

Edited by: The Shadowcat at: 8/12/03 6:22 am

[Urn of Osiris]

Hey all, just a word of thanks for the suggestions. I've been using Mozilla for the last couple of days and find it great at preventing popups but a little slow when loading a new page. I think I'll adjust eventually. Might have to try it on my Dell desktop.



Thanks!!

Urn of Osiris

Peace is not the absence of conflict; it's the absence of inner conflict. Unknown
When we stand up, we are standing up for everybody. Each of us needs to know, in fact, that we are rainbows in the clouds... for everybody. MAYA ANGELOU

[justin]

If you're finding Mozilla to be a bit slow then I'd reccomend switching to Phoenix (or Mozilla Firebird as it's now called)



It uses the same html rendering engine and has the same anti-popup options but a lot of bloat has been removed to make it quicker.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[xita]

Yes Mozilla Firebird is sort of the next step up in browswers. mozilla.org/products/firebird/ A handy link. I use it now regularly after just trying it at first. Very similar to regular mozilla but better. Remember to use your tabs! Tabbed browsing is the best thing since apple pie.



And if you have firebird check out the extensions. I've had so much fun with those.



Mozilla Firebird doesn't have an email program that comes with it, but you may use your own already anyway. If you want to try something new for email, try out mozilla thunderbird.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[justin]

I have one problem with Mozilla Firebird. I can't work out how to configure it to handle mailto: style links.



For example when I wanted to order Chance I had to use Konquorer to fill in the order form.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[xita]

Were you using outlook? I just don't know whose problem it is cause I use thunderbird email and firebird. I just ended up writing out the order details as they appeared on the form.



which reminds me for some reason,

If you are running Windows XP or 2000 make sure you have a firewall enabled and are patched up with the most recent Windows' updates



securityresponse.symantec....worm.html



nasty little bug going around.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

Edited by: xita  at: 8/12/03 12:56 pm

[justin]

I'm using KMail for my email (I'm running Mandrake GNU/Linux)



The problem is when I click on an email link I get the message



mailto is not a registered protocol



I suppose I could have worked round it by copying the details into an Email but I was able to send the order from within the Konqueror browser.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[xita]

ooh linux, how I wish I was brave enough. I have a little problem with the mailto, it never fills in the addy unless my mail application is already running.. so sometimes clicking on the link twice helps the second window that opens has the info filled in.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last."

-Willie Wonka

[justin]

I've figured out the problem, I needed to install MozEX



For anyone who's thinking about trying GNU/Linux I'd reccomend trying one of the distros that run from CD such as Gnoppix or SuSE-Live, so you don't have to repartition your hard drive.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[MaClayMagic]

Thanks everyone for all your help. Yes, we had put on the service pack, it came with our new XP. We think because we had USB problems before that it's the motherboard just like you say. Our dvd player has never been right either, when we took the machine back to PC World they said it worked perfect.....I recommend no one goes there! Can all those living in the West Midlands area be on the look out for a flying computer because as soon as I can I'm gonna chuck it out the window!!

I have gone onto ebuyer and brought a ps2 mouse and keyboard for just a few ££'s, they are very cheap. That way, if the usb decideds to konk out again, we have a back up! All I want is to be able to write and get on the internet! Is that too much to ask this machine!

Thanks again for all your help in this thread, what a cool thread to start!!

"The world feels so much better when you find you don't fit

There's a ladder in my tights and who gives a **** if woops you ain't shiney and perfect" - Amy Studt

[The Shadowcat]

I just discovered the most wonderful thing I think I've ever seen. Ok, maybe not, but I'm so hyper right now that it seems nothing could be better. I, ironically enough, have a very old and crappy computer at home that can't even run the wonderful Mozilla. Today, I came across a wonderful shell for IE that lets me have the joys of modern browsing (ie. tabs, pop-up blocker, no flash, skins...). My most sincere thanks to Penny Arcade for mentioning it in today's editorial.



For anyone interested, it's called Avant browser. It's fairly small, stable, and can operate with minimul cpu usage. It is sweet. And it DIDN'T lose everything in this window when I went back to edit! I love you, Avant.



You can grab it here, if you know not the joys of Mozilla or Firebird.



www.avantbrowser.com



Cry with me as I try to not think about the fact that I have to give up the nicest computer I've ever gotten to work on at the end of today. This is especially ironic because it is a really crappy, broken Gateway Solo.

[Shinnen]

Okay... I thought i knew some stuff about computers...but recently researching motherboards because i wanna upgrade my computer (if i get out of detention that is), and I've come across some stuff that i don't quite understand... or i can't tell the difference.



1. What's the difference between a Pentium Processor and a AMD? and Which is a better processor? as AMD prices are a good deal cheaper than Pentiums.



2. What's the difference between D865PERL, D865PERC, D865PESO, D865GBF and D865GLC motherboards. I've read the comparisions and have no idea still which is a better board. All has same specs but different prices.

CheerZ

Shinnen



If you love someone, set her free ...

If she comes back, and if you love her still, set

her free again,repeat ...

[sam7777]

Shinnen: AMD and Intel are different companies that make processors that can be used in PC's.



1. What's the difference between a Pentium Processor and a AMD? and Which is a better processor? as AMD prices are a good deal cheaper than Pentiums.



AMD is cheaper but currently Intel holds the technological edge and have the fastest processors. There used to be some compatibility problems with AMD processors but that is no longer an issue. Pricewise you will get more bang for you buck with AMD. Tom's Hardware has a nice article that compares two AMD and INTEL processors:

www.tomshardware.com/cpu/...index.html

Either will do for a home PC.



2. What's the difference between D865PERL, D865PERC, D865PESO, D865GBF and D865GLC motherboards. I've read the comparisions and have no idea still which is a better board. All has same specs but different prices. If you get any of these Intel motherboards, then you will want to go with a Pentium 4. All are Intel Pentium 4 Processor-Compatible Desktop Boards. The D865PERL board has an 800 MHz system bus with dual-channel DDR400 memory and native Serial ATA 150 (which is a faster alternative to the IDE standard for disk drives). The D865PESO is the same as the D865PERL featurewise but is a smaller board (microATX). The D865PERC is the D865PERL with Gigabit Ethernet added. The D865GBF upgrades the on board video to the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and has a Gigabit Ethernet connection (can be used on a regular network but needs a giganit network for full speed). The D865GLC is the same as the D865GBF featurewise but is a smaller board (microATX).

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[Shinnen]

Thanks Sam! Just one more question.



If i get a motherboard with SATA support, can i still use a non-SATA HD with it ?

CheerZ

Shinnen



She's the most amazing girl in the whole world. She's the only girl who makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. When I'm not with her, I'm not living. I'm not existing until I can hold her in my arms again.

[sam7777]

Yes but you will need a converter like:

fwdepot.com/thestore/prod...cts_id/456

IDE to SATA conversion board SPECIAL ORDER ONLY         $79.99USD



Or you could install an IDE board:

www.cdw.com/shop/products...EDC=342975

Promise Ultra133 TX2 Controller $47.46USD

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[Jennpurr]

Hey kittens,



I'm hoping maybe one of you can help me.



I DL'ed a movie off of Kazaa and when I try to play it, I don't get a picture or sound, but you can see it moving as if it's playing.



Anyone have any suggestions?? Help??



Jen

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