Random Technology Questions

[Finn 7 five 11]

All I know about Dell is they overprice their stuff skyhigh and yes, generally have low quality PSUs.

 

Regarding the graphics, don't forget that you can also overclock the 6770 as well, and don't forget that the GT 540m is the only one with Physx and CSAA. CPU Physx never works smoothly.

 

I don't see why you dont just get a desktop if you don't care about battery life. You'll get much better components and graphics performance for the money.

I have ruled Battery life out of the equation, it doesn't bother me now.

 

Well i do want a Gaming Rig and i would love to build it too, but really i think it is overkill, the graphics are great and i would love to have some nice mods, but frankly i don't have the time, i already have PS3 and many games, that i barely have time to play, but i do need a laptop for other purposes, and i would like the option of being able to play if i am out and about, even if it doesn't happen i want the option.

With a desktop the only reason i would build one is for gaming, and like i said, it could be a waste.

 

[Guest]

I have a 5.1 surround sound speaker system which plugs in with green, black, and pink jacks and my laptop only has one audio output 3.5mm jack so I was wondering if there are any adapters that plug in as one then have 3 output? I don't mind if all the sound comes out of all speakers and not properly surrounded but I just want all the sound to be able to come out of all the speakers instead of just the ones going to one of the plugs. I'm able to find double splitters but not triple!

[Wolf68k]

Some PC 5.1 speakers come with a button/switch to turn on what Logitech calls Matrix mode which forces the sound out to all speakers.

All you do is plug the front speaker cable from your 5.1 speakers to the headphone port and the Matrix mode pushes it out to the other speakers.

 

However you can get a USB adapter; something like this http://www.smarthome.com/97374/USB-5-1-Cha...r-AA1500/p.aspx that should give you true surround sound. How well particular product works and sounds I have no idea but the point is that they do exist.

Here's another http://www.frisbyspeakers.com/index.php?_a...od&productId=23 This one also includes a Mic In, Line In and Optical In & Out

 

Do start to wonder why no one has made a set of PC 5.1 speakers that can connect the standard way or use USB, which would be great. I've seen some that connect to USB for power but still use the PC's audio port for the sound itself.

[mr quick]

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Edited April 27, 2016 by Marwin

[OverTheBelow]

Okay, my pc crashed, lost all my stuff, yada yada yada reinstalled windows yada yada

Now it's 64 bit suddenly what makes 64bit better than 32?

Your OS is able to simultaneously use more than 3.25gb total RAM (that includes video memory) on 64 bit.

[Finn 7 five 11]

I was having a debate with one of my friends, intel vs AMD, i was saying you should get an i-core, he was intent on AMD Phenom II X4 840.

 

These are the rough specs...AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840, 3.2 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 95W.

 

I was wondering, how would that perform against an i5 or an i7 that has a lower clock speed?

I was under the understanding that intels seem to run like a CPU with a higher clock.

 

Can someone explain to me why that is? if it is in fact true.

[sivispacem]

I was having a debate with one of my friends, intel vs AMD, i was saying you should get an i-core, he was intent on AMD Phenom II X4 840.

 

These are the rough specs...AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840, 3.2 GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 95W.

 

I was wondering, how would that perform against an i5 or an i7 that has a lower clock speed?

I was under the understanding that intels seem to run like a CPU with a higher clock.

 

Can someone explain to me why that is? if it is in fact true.

Current Intel processors support hyperthreading, which basically means that they have, say, 4 actual cores and an additional 4 virtual cores. The clock speeds are lower because those speeds are applied across a larger number of virtual cores (8, 4 solely virtual and 4 real). It's this which gives the Intel processors a significant edge over the current AMD crop.

[yoječ]

To be more precise: not all intel CPUs have Hyper Threading - only i3 and i7 do (from LGA1155 CPUs). i5 do not have HT. It doesn't make any difference in current games, though.

 

Current Intels (i5/i7) not only have higher clocks (and have higher OC capabilities), but they're also faster when you compare their single core on the same clocks. Basically, the only thing why AMD CPUs are worth buying is their relatively low price (although I'd insist to buy Phenom 955 rather than 840, because 840 is a rebranded Athlon II X4 650).

[Slamman]

For some reason, NET will not install on my Vista Ultimate Edition on Duo Centrino, 2/2 (Acer 4710), I have a disc with the apps in the Driver segment, 3.5 and 4.0 .NET, far as I know this wasn't an issue on another computer, This one drive I'm using now is Vista Home Premium and will see if NET worked on this one or not

[LongHairedFreakyGuy]

Couple of questions, guys.

 

1) Upon just getting my internet back on the other day, I was made to download Service Pack 3 for my XP computer. The PC restarted, but now everything has changed back to normal XP. I had a few programs that allowed me to change the theme and whatnot, but it seems to have dissapeared now, and has left me just with the original XP themes.

 

I ask if SP3 is the cause of this as I was having alot of PC trouble aswell at the same time, so not sure if my PC is infected, or whether SP3 did it.

 

2) Is there a decent, free program out there that scans all the processes that are running on the PC, and tells you if they are safe or not? As I posted sometime ago, I have around 80 processes running at a time, yet all I tend to have open is WMP and Firefox.

[yoječ]

1) Yes, SP3 replaced the file that unlocked the ability to have custom themes. You have to replace it back, with e. g. UXTheme Multi-Patcher.

[Wolf68k]

 

Couple of questions, guys.

 

1) Upon just getting my internet back on the other day, I was made to download Service Pack 3 for my XP computer. The PC restarted, but now everything has changed back to normal XP. I had a few programs that allowed me to change the theme and whatnot, but it seems to have dissapeared now, and has left me just with the original XP themes.

 

I ask if SP3 is the cause of this as I was having alot of PC trouble aswell at the same time, so not sure if my PC is infected, or whether SP3 did it.

 

2) Is there a decent, free program out there that scans all the processes that are running on the PC, and tells you if they are safe or not? As I posted sometime ago, I have around 80 processes running at a time, yet all I tend to have open is WMP and Firefox.

1) was already answered

 

2) Hijackthis can get that list of running processes and then you can submit that to http://hijackthis.de/ (just copy&paste or upload the log txt file) or create a new topic here and copy&paste the log, please use the

 tags just to be on the safe side so we get it all, some times there are urls in the logs depending on your system settings.

80 processes is very very high if you ask me. When I ran XP SP3 I had less than 40 processes and about 5 or so of those I didn't really need running, all in all I'd say I could have mine down to around 30 or less if I really wanted to.

It's my guess that a lot of those processes are; printer, camera, video card, mouse, keyboard, and/scanner drivers be it from something you bought to add to your system or part of a pre-built system like Dell or HP in which case there are other programs running in the background as well that have nothing to do with drivers.

Something that could help some what is a visit to BlackViper.com for XP 32-bit (for Vista and Win7 there are different pages). This is a list of services normally found in XP, yours might have more depending, what mode they are by default and then what you can change them to. For most people follow the suggestions found under the SAFE column with 1 added change; if you don't use Wifi then set "Wireless Zero Configuration" to disable. If you're feeling adventurous you can try the Tweaked column.

Oh another you might want to try disabling is "Fast User Switching Compatibility" If you only have 1 account on the PC then there is no need for this. There are others, like "Computer Browser" that I also disable because I don't network my computers that way. You can click on the names of the service to find out more about them and then figure out if YOU really need them or not. In some cases if you're not sure you'll need it or not and the default is Auto but the SAFE suggest is disable then try setting it to Manual and see what happens.

[Blaze]

why doesn't Windows just have a "password protect this folder" option, had to download a BAT file and run it every time I want to decrypt the folder.

[Wolf68k]

They do and they don't. There do have file/folder encryption but it's only good as long as no one has access to your account. If someone replaces the SAM file for a clean one because they can't figure out your password then the encrypted data is still encrypted.

 

 

If you want to password protect them no matter what, here are a few freebies you can try http://www.snapfiles.com/downloadfind.php?...ch=Find+it&lc=1

I remember on an episode of Tekzilla they did a segment on this. I'll have to look later to see if I can find it and see what they suggest.

 

 

/edit

Thanks Google...

Tekzilla Daily tip was Secure Folder http://sourceforge.net/projects/securefolder/ watch it here http://revision3.com/tzdaily/2011-02-21securefolders

They also talked about TrueCrypt http://revision3.com/bestof/tekzilla-0090 found here http://www.truecrypt.org/

Edited September 10, 2011 by Wolf68k

[Blaze]

Aha I did this, now no prying eyes (or friends/family) can find personal or other folders.

 

[Exxon]

Something I do not understand:

 

Why is the shiny new 'high-tech' DDR3 getting cheaper and cheaper, and the old DDR2 more expensive?

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[yoječ]

DDR2 production is constantly decreasing. Lower supply = higher prices.

[OverTheBelow]

 

Aha I did this, now no prying eyes (or friends/family) can find personal or other folders.

 

http://i55.tinypic.com/25fh8qq.png[/img

That would be useless in most cases where someone has basic knowledge of Explorer. All that does is attribute your folder as hidden (something you can do in properties btw), so as a result can easily be revealed by simply checking a box in Explorer options to show hidden folders/files.

 

With that said, the safest way to hide a folder is by putting it somewhere deep in the Windows directory. Nobody ever thinks to look there.

[vertical limit]

Hey guys, I just got Netricity Adapter Powerline 200Mbps and it didn't want to work. Well basically it shows up as an unidentified network, meaning that I have no network access.

 

If you could help me, I would be forever happy and grateful.

 

If there is some sort of info you want about this, just state what info you still need and I will post it.

 

Thanks.

[Fozzy Fozborne]

Alright, simple question: I have two computers, one is connected directly to a hard drive (USB) and the other is mapped to that drive over the network.

 

Now, I want to [physically] disconnect the drive from the USB port. On my network laptop I disconnect the drive (right-click on network location and click disconnect) and I make sure nothing is accessing it on the computer connected to it. Windows will not let me safely disconnect it now matter how long I give it. Is there a way to safely disconnect a drive like this or is it a "yank and hope" affair?

[OverTheBelow]

If you right click on the drive in Computer, then go to the hardware tab -> (select drive name) -> properties -> policies, you can change certain things to make the drive safer to "yank out", so to speak. Change it to Quick Removal and untick 'write caching' and you shouldn't have to worry so much about loss of data/corruption.

[Fozzy Fozborne]

Sweet thanks, I did this for my drive. let's hope it stays working in the long-run!

 

[Blaze]

Aha I did this, now no prying eyes (or friends/family) can find personal or other folders.

 

http://i55.tinypic.com/25fh8qq.png[/img

That would be useless in most cases where someone has basic knowledge of Explorer. All that does is attribute your folder as hidden (something you can do in properties btw), so as a result can easily be revealed by simply checking a box in Explorer options to show hidden folders/files.

 

With that said, the safest way to hide a folder is by putting it somewhere deep in the Windows directory. Nobody ever thinks to look there.

The only other people aside from me is my mum who doesn't know what a start menu is and friends who think FB = life haha. I'll bury that folder in sys32 when I can be bothered

[Barry Spock]

Question for Lycosa or anyone else who knows a bit about Linux.

I'm using Mint linux. I have http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-p...spx?pid=3828#ov this mainboard. I can't get the sound working. Anyone got any ideas for how I could get it working?

[Kweckzilber]

Being a FreeBSD user, I do not exactly know much about Linux Mint, but check in your installed packages/ports for missing sound related packages. Check whether sound related applications are running.

 

Also, you may have more success on the Linux Mint forums themselves.

[Barry Spock]

^ Lol -- I had it on mute! Whoops.

[okei]

hello geeks, geekstas and drug runners.

would the Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2000MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 1.65V be compatible with the Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard?

 

i already checked btw but im just double checking with a second brain as i haven't dabbled with all this component stuff in quite a while and it's only part of a theoretical build right now (plan on selling my current pc soon)

Edited September 14, 2011 by okei

[yoječ]

Yes, they will be compatible. But, getting 2000Mhz mems is a waste of money IMHO, since you won't notice a big boost (I doubt if there would be ANY difference compared to 1600MHz), and you pay like £30 more (1600MHz mems cost ~£40, so it's a huge price difference).

[sivispacem]

Yes, they will be compatible. But, getting 2000Mhz mems is a waste of money IMHO, since you won't notice a big boost (I doubt if there would be ANY difference compared to 1600MHz), and you pay like £30 more (1600MHz mems cost ~£40, so it's a huge price difference).

Plus most decent 1600MHz memory over-clocks to 2000MHz with exactly the same timings and latency as the dedicated 2000MHz stuff. Mine certainly did.

[yoječ]

Well... my mems (A-Data +Series) didn't. They barely reached 1650MHz Funny thing is that CL did not affect max stable clocks, it's ~1650MHz on both CL8 and CL9. I might have done sth wrong, though, I'm not pro when it comes to OC. I don't care anyway, since it makes little to no difference anyway (except in SuperPI and such).