Random Question Thread: Tech

[TacoTaru]

His current drivers (drivers that were there when he bought it) crashes XIV in random intervals ranging from a few minutes to an hour, but never longer than hour and rarely that long. It doesn't crash the laptop however, and every other game runs fine. The most recent drivers he can download GSOD every game and force him to hard boot the laptop. I'm not sure if he's ran a driver sweeper before, but I'm pretty sure he's gotten rid of older drivers since he's went back and forth with this enough.

[hey]

It wiping them with driver sweeper doesn't work, then it likely is an issue with the bios, if other people are saying that fixed it. Realistically the only risk of bricking is if the power goes out (and it's a laptop, so presumably he has a battery anyway), or if you do something incredibly stupid, like flash something that isn't compatible. It's really not difficult to do, so if that's the fix, then that's the fix, and he should do it.

[Elizara]

/sigh

I'm thinking I need a new monitor, but need to check on this.

About 3-4 months ago, I started getting 1 black wavy line coming down the screen when the monitor wakes up from being in sleepmode or being off for a long time, then it'd go away. Now when I turn it on/wake it up from sleepmode after a few hours, I get some really big, black borders along the right and left edges that combines into 2 wavy lines near said edges of the screen, then they fade away. Monitor is a CRT, proly the last that was ever made, and is about 2-3 years old. >.< Also said wavy lines/borders seem to flow like water before they disappear.. (And fyi, once the monitor warms up things work as normal)

I'm thinking this is only going to get worse. (If people are curious, I'll find my digital camera.) Is there any way to fix this, or do I have to start whining for a new monitor?

[Mayareira]

/sigh

I'm thinking I need a new monitor, but need to check on this.

About 3-4 months ago, I started getting 1 black wavy line coming down the screen when the monitor wakes up from being in sleepmode or being off for a long time, then it'd go away. Now when I turn it on/wake it up from sleepmode after a few hours, I get some really big, black borders along the right and left edges that combines into 2 wavy lines near said edges of the screen, then they fade away. Monitor is a CRT, proly the last that was ever made, and is about 2-3 years old. >.< Also said wavy lines/borders seem to flow like water before they disappear.. (And fyi, once the monitor warms up things work as normal)

I'm thinking this is only going to get worse. (If people are curious, I'll find my digital camera.) Is there any way to fix this, or do I have to start whining for a new monitor?

Sounds like a deflection problem. Unless you are good at repairing monitors (shouldn't even bother opening it at all if you are not, crt monitors are not like PC cases/compontents and it is not easy to diagnose the problem if you are not experienced) you should just go ahead an buy a new monitor. Repairing that would cost more than the monitor itself.

[Aylee]

So trying to torrent some games and wondering what all I can do to help protect myself. Usualy run peerblock but is there anything else that will help avoid detection. Kinda wanna play witcher 2 but this got me a lil worried (not dl'ed yet)

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[hey]

That is what we call a "scare tactic". The entire point is to scare people away from piracy, and to get them to pay outrageous fees to avoid lawsuits that won't happen anyway. It works fairly well, is it's very easy for them to send out thousands of such letters.

[Mellema]

Anyone else get the email to send in the first generation ipod for a replacement? It would be nice if they actually specified what you were getting back...it just says a replacement. Mine still works fine and is in near perfect condition, so I'd rather not get some junky refurb in exchange. I can't imagine they have a huge stockpile of first gen ipods sitting around though...

Just some follow up on this. I filled out the form back in November. Got a UPS box from them in mid December to send in the first gen Nano, and I shipped it back two days before Xmas. Fed-Ex just delivered my replacement today. Sent in an ugly, black 2 gig 1st gen and received a new silver 8 gig 6th gen Nano. The letter stated apologetically that due to limited availability of replacement stock of first generation they sent this instead. I was expecting an older refurb, so needless to say I was happily surprised.

[Overburn]

I tried looking for a thread, but is there any tablet recommendations other than the iPad? I'm interested in getting a tablet, but this seems to be the only highly rated one. All the Android tablets seem to be rated lower for stability issues.

[TacoTaru]

After opening up my case last night to install some fans, I saw exactly how gross it's getting inside. Can I use compressed air at a distance to clean it out, or is that a no-no?

[Boyiee]

I prefer an air compressor if you have one. I don't like that canned shit on my innards.

[TacoTaru]

Unfortunately I do not have an air compressor. :/

[Isiolia]

After opening up my case last night to install some fans, I saw exactly how gross it's getting inside. Can I use compressed air at a distance to clean it out, or is that a no-no?

You can, it's typically sold for the purpose anyway.

[Jakson]

Any recommendations for large capacity mp3 players? I don't need it to do anything but hold/play mp3s (no movies, apps, etc.). iPod classic 160 gig seems common and cheap enough, but was hoping there might be some cheaper, simpler product.

[Jojimbo]

Haven't looked through it too much yet but could try this site for alternatives

[Nemesio]

Google searches have turned up indecisive at best so... Does anyone know if I could run Windows 7 on an external drive through my Macbook Pro? I normally partition my Mac, but for some reason(After my Windows crashing and having to do a fresh install) it won't let me re-partition(I deleted the partition to give myself more space).

[idklol]

So i just turned my laptop on and went for a drink. Came back expecting to just log on and i found it doing a "check disk". It told me that it was checking local disc (c for inconsistencies. The screen was very similar to the screen you get after a hard shut down, black with white writing. It ran for about 2-3 minutes, hit 100% mark, restarted and now i'm here.

I honestly have no idea what just happened and me being paranoid about anything i don't understand i start worrying that something bad has just happened. Can anyone tell me if i have a problem or its nothing to worry about? I've only had this laptop for about 6 weeks and have had no problem whatsoever up to this point. Its a HP if that makes any difference and if needed any other specs.

[hey]

i wouldn't worry about it, unless it happens again. There could have just been a simple problem, and it fixed it. If it keeps happening, that could indicate a problem with your hdd.

[Bilopdop]

Whenever I start my PC I get a black screen with the message "A Disk read Error, Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart."

When I do press CtrlAltDel it restarts to the same message. After a few times trying to start it up I have noticed that the computer slowly starts to work.

If I don't do anything for a about ten minutes while the message is up the computer will start up right away when I try to restart it, but if I try to keep restarting it every few minutes the computer slowly gets to the desktop.

It starts with the error screen, then after a few tries will freeze on the Windows loading screen, then eventually work. Might anyone know what the problem is?

[hey]

Your hdd is most likely dying. Back up anything you need, and replace it.

It may be possible to fix (google it), but probably not.

[Eldelphia]

Anyone got recommendations for a wireless headset solution for using with vent/skype? Ideally one which wraps around the back of your head or hooks over your ear? I have a creative wireless headset but my friend hates the over head models.