Random Question Thread: Tech

[Greatguardian]

So, right now I have two 7200 RPM hard drives in my machine. One at 200GB with my OS (Win 7 x64), the other at 2TB with storage.

I bought a 64GB SSD to throw my OS onto to increase system performance.

Main question: Can I install Win 7 (a separate copy) onto my SSD and just toss it in with the other two Hard Drives?

I know I'll have to reinstall all of my applications, since the registry will be totally new on the new installation, but I'm mainly concerned about wiping the 200GB HDD and losing the couple dozen miscellaneous files that I always forget to back up when I reformat. For reference, I don't have an external hard drive to just copy the drive to since they have a habit of bricking on me and I'm too borked to buy a new one.

Essentially, I want to install an OS (Win 7 x64 Ultimate) to my SSD without deleting the OS off my old HDD (Win 7 x64 Pro, they are separate disks/keys), so that I can access that HDD's storage while disregarding the OS installed on it. Is this feasible or will Windows freak out on me every time I try to start it up? I feel like this should be fine considering people can have Win 7 and Win XP installations on the same computer just fine. I just want to be able to access the data in my HDD from the OS installed in my SSD without removing the OS from my HDD.

If this can't be done, will I be able to selectively move files back over if I perform a drive backup of the 200GB HDD onto my 2TB HDD? Or is that an "All or Nothing" deal?

The 200GB HDD is coming close to dying at this point, as its easily the oldest component in my PC. I don't intend to use it for much, or for very long. I just want to make sure that I can access anything that's on it if I need to.

[hey]

You can have multiple os installations on a single hard drive, having them on different hdds will be fine.

Easiest/safest way to deal with old files is probably to just copy the entire drive to your larger one, and comb through it over the next few weeks deleting/saving anything you don't/do need. After a few weeks, if you haven't needed anything you forgot about, then it's probably not important enough to be worth saving anyway, so you should be fine to delete whatever is left over.

[Caiyuo]

Does this case/PSU combo look awful? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

Looking at a $250 build for my aunt since all she does is use Facebook and shit and pinching pennies everywhere

[hey]

Does this case/PSU combo look awful? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

Looking at a $250 build for my aunt since all she does is use Facebook and shit and pinching pennies everywhere

All i saw was $20 shipping.

[Caiyuo]

Balls, good catch. I couldn't remember if elsewhere had a better price but it looks to be about $50 minimum everywhere. The cheapest I saw for a separate case and PSU was about $70 and was wary if the risk on quality was worth the difference.

[hey]

http://www.amazon.com/PC-375-Tower-A...5&sr=8-1-fkmr1 looks like the same thing for $50 and free shipping. Or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...sr=1-9&seller= looks comparable, and is $1.75 cheaper.

If you want to buy them seperate, i noticed at least one case on amazon for $25 while looking around, and 300w psus can be had for $15.

edit: http://www.amazon.com/10-Bay-ATX-Tow...685398&sr=1-11 should probably be fine for a cheap system, and seems to be the cheapest available on amazon. Along with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817822014 would total $38 for the case+psu.

[Greatguardian]

You can have multiple os installations on a single hard drive, having them on different hdds will be fine.

Easiest/safest way to deal with old files is probably to just copy the entire drive to your larger one, and comb through it over the next few weeks deleting/saving anything you don't/do need. After a few weeks, if you haven't needed anything you forgot about, then it's probably not important enough to be worth saving anyway, so you should be fine to delete whatever is left over.

Thank ye~. When you say copy it over, are you referring to using windows backup to back the drive up to the larger HDD? Or just literally copy-pasting the majority of the drive over to a new folder on the larger HDD?

For a CS student, I'm woefully ignorant of how windows handles hard drives.

[hey]

Thank ye~. When you say copy it over, are you referring to using windows backup to back the drive up to the larger HDD? Or just literally copy-pasting the majority of the drive over to a new folder on the larger HDD?

For a CS student, I'm woefully ignorant of how windows handles hard drives.

Copy paste works fine. You can image the drive if you really want, but you shouldn't really need to.

[Greatguardian]

Copy paste works fine. You can image the drive if you really want, but you shouldn't really need to.

Awesome, thanks

[bungiefan]

So I'm having an unusual problem with Win7 that I wasn't having before I went to work this morning. Windows Explorer isn't showing some of the buttons at the top of windows that were there before, as well as not displaying drive letters or volume names. I can't open a save prompt in any of my programs, and right-clicking a file doesn't show cut/copy/paste, and instead of "Open" and "Open in a new window" I get "open" and "opennewwindow". I can't even save my screenshot in paint or gimp showing what it looks like.

I'm running CCleaner, MalwareBytes, and Kaspersky scans right now looking for anything unusual, but it takes awhile to scan 10 TB of drive space. I haven't seen this behaviour before, and I do virus disinfection all the time at work for people that don't take precautions with their machines. Any idea what I'm up against? It's getting close to time for my annual Windows reinstall, but I need to get some files off my C drive to save redownloading things like my Steam library.

[Zeb]

So I recently upgraded vidya cards. Now MPC only shows a portion of the video in the bottom right hand corner. How to fix?

[Caiyuo]

Just saw that with the i7-2700k release Intel is dropping the price on the i3-2120; any idea as to when the price drops usually propagate out to sellers?

http://www.amazon.com/PC-375-Tower-A...5&sr=8-1-fkmr1 looks like the same thing for $50 and free shipping. Or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...sr=1-9&seller= looks comparable, and is $1.75 cheaper.

If you want to buy them seperate, i noticed at least one case on amazon for $25 while looking around, and 300w psus can be had for $15.

edit: http://www.amazon.com/10-Bay-ATX-Tow...685398&sr=1-11 should probably be fine for a cheap system, and seems to be the cheapest available on amazon. Along with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817822014 would total $38 for the case+psu.

thanks!

[Mugekuge]

Heya, i have a doubt if it is possible to do this:

I want to make a wireless transmission of video from my pc to my TV, since i have some HD movies on my hdd.

My tv has a wifi receiver equipment, can i just send my pc video signal via wifi to my tv (to avoid using HDMI cable since distance is like 30 feets between both?

I've heard about wirelessHD adapters but they are a little pricey and i think 300mbps with normal wifi would be enough to stream at 1080p?

[Isiolia]

Heya, i have a doubt if it is possible to do this:

I want to make a wireless transmission of video from my pc to my TV, since i have some HD movies on my hdd.

My tv has a wifi receiver equipment, can i just send my pc video signal via wifi to my tv (to avoid using HDMI cable since distance is like 30 feets between both?

I've heard about wirelessHD adapters but they are a little pricey and i think 300mbps with normal wifi would be enough to stream at 1080p?

Does your TV have wifi so that it can use wireless video signals, or does it have wifi for things like Netflix? If it's DLNA complaint then it may be able to stream the video if you just set up a compatible share.

[Mugekuge]

Wifi adapter that came with TV was this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOSHIBA-Dual...-/370499020413

And my TV is a toshiba http://us.toshiba.com/tv/led/40ul605U/ (Reading specs it says is not dlna certified)

[Isiolia]

Hm, do you have a PS3 or 360 hooked up to it? Either of those is DLNA compatible.

[Fereydoon]

So, I was going to get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883147971 it was $699.99 until today... Wondering if anyone happened upon something better or equal for 700 or cheaper? I wouldn't be opposed to building, but when I tossed together a cart full of the stuff in that one, it seemed like it was more pricy.. probably isn't now. Budget is $700 atm, I can get the 800 for that one, but I'd prefer not to. :\

Edit: found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.759542 which seems slightly better for a fair bit cheaper. Y/N? Would I need to order anything else? Plugs/wires/what have you? Would be my first time building a computer.

[Zerocool]

So, I was going to get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883147971 it was $699.99 until today... Wondering if anyone happened upon something better or equal for 700 or cheaper? I wouldn't be opposed to building, but when I tossed together a cart full of the stuff in that one, it seemed like it was more pricy.. probably isn't now. Budget is $700 atm, I can get the 800 for that one, but I'd prefer not to. :\

Edit: found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.759542 which seems slightly better for a fair bit cheaper. Y/N? Would I need to order anything else? Plugs/wires/what have you? Would be my first time building a computer.

What all do you need, just the tower itself? And what is your current setup?

[Fereydoon]

What all do you need, just the tower itself? And what is your current setup?

Just the tower, at the moment. I'd need a new monitor eventually, but I'll wait a bit for that. My current set-up is some shitty Compaq from 2005, no room for upgrades whatsoever, and it's on it's death knell. Looking to play XIV with it, mainly, along with a ton of games I missed over the years.

[Zerocool]

Just the tower, at the moment. I'd need a new monitor eventually, but I'll wait a bit for that. My current set-up is some shitty Compaq from 2005, no room for upgrades whatsoever, and it's on it's death knell. Looking to play XIV with it, mainly, along with a ton of games I missed over the years.

Probably something like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...755247-_-Combo if you're willing to go up to 800. Seems like the best bang for the buck and should be everything you need to get started.