Need some computer help

[Reaver 10]

http://www.apple.com ................ sorry, just had to. Everyone knew it was coming!

 

 

Yep, there it is...I was wondering when you'd chime in. lol

[Sparrow 10]

If you like vanilla, and it does what you want it to do, why not.

[darthtrader 10]

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/build-a-computer.htm

 

Really, a book would be like 20 pages long. You don't even really have to worry about the cables because the harddrive will come with the cables, the powersupply will come with cables. All the parts come with directions themselves too.

I think the biggest issue you would want to look into is finding out what kind of graphics card/cards you have and just makes sure there are no conflicts with the motherboard you would buy. Beyond that its really more a price issue. I've had good luck with ENERMAX power supplies and Crucial memory, so thats what I would go with.

you could probly learn everything you need by surfing around the forums at toms hardware. audioforums.com in the pc hardware section might be helpfull too as it wont be all gaming type machines.

[TinGull 10]

If you like vanilla, and it does what you want it to do, why not.

 

I assume you're talking about the PC....

 

 

 

 

 

:shocked:

[Sparrow 10]

i kinda like choices, and throw my own rig together once every couple of years.

I'll give apple a shot somewhen just out of curiousity. Thus far it's been PC all the way though and no end in sight, maybe vista will change my mind.

[nickm001 10]

Here is what I would do:

1. Scan for trojans. Trojans track whenever you access any site and upload info to "home office". If you haven't done so, download Spybot and scan for them.

2. Your HD may be fragmented. Defrag the drve using XP util... Much better one is "Perfect Disk" application. After running perfect disk, I have noticed quantum leap in performance.

3. If none of the above help, I would reload OS...

4. If you still have problem, then most likely is HW issue,and may not be worth your time to fix it, considering the cost of repair vs new system ..

[AbeSmith 10]

Hey.

 

Here is a tip for improving your performance. I did this a few days ago and it had a dramatic effect on my computer's performance. What I suggest is to disable the unnecessary startup programs that launch automatically every time you start you computer. You might think that software companies would not do anything to slow down you computer unnecessarily, but I don't think that is true. Many times after I install a new program it adds an unnecessary startup program that slows down startup and also slows down performance after startup. For example, my video card has an alternative video setting software that would startup automatically. But windows already has this and it is sufficient for me, so I disabled the video card setting software from starting up, but only after I researched to see if it would be safe to do so.

 

Here is how I did it:

 

1. Go to start, run, and type in msconfig press enter.

2. Select the Startup tab. There you will see a list of startup items that have a check box next to them. Some of them are important, but many of them in my computer were not necessary. How do you know what is important and what is not. One way to check is to type in the name of the program found under the startup items column in Google. Then there should be several links about this startup program, what it is and whether it is vital. You may also find links to forum discussions about it from people who are doing the same thing. If you conclude that the program is not necessary then you can simply uncheck it from the startup items. It will require a restart for it to take effect. I'm attaching a screenshot of my startup items. You can see that only 5 items are checked out of the many potential startup items.

3. Another thing you can do if is to go to an expert computer site where there are people who might help you out with this. You give them a list of your startup items and they might tell you which ones to keep and which ones to remove. But I recommend you figure out how to do it yourself.

 

Another thing you should do to keep your computer from getting bogged down with unnecessary processes is to be careful when installing new programs. First, you can do the custom install as opposed to typical install and uncheck unnecessary bundles from being installed. And afterwards you should check back with msconfig to make sure that there are no unnecessary startup programs initiated from the installation. I suggest to keep you computer with the minimum number of programs necessary.

[darthtrader 10]

msconfig is a good idea. junk will start up over time, its pretty hard to avoid that.

 

I always just reinstall windows every 6 months though. If you have never done it, you guys should get partition magic and cut up your hard drive into sections. I always make my c drive about 20 gigs then store any data I wouldn't want to lose on the other drives/partitions. Then its no problem if you have to reinstall windows, 2 hours and your back to a fresh install without losing anything. Just have to reinstall your software.

[brownsfan019 17]

For anyone using Acronis True Image 11 Home - if you could provide a few steps on how to use this thing, that would be great. All I need right now is a way to back up a computer and then use that when need be. The manual is a tad intimidating at first, so any help is appreciated.

[nickm001 10]

If your PCs are networked, Use Acronis True Image bootable CD and back partition or whole disk over the network ( that is how it works in version 7.0 )

[Reaver 10]

God I hate Vista.

[MC 10]

God I hate Vista.

 

I'm about to format for the 3rd time and go back to xp pro.

I bought a notebook the night vista came out with vista on it and within a week went to xp pro.

 

Few weeks later I said, hey maybe the 3rd party software has been patched for vista and went to vista again. Lasted a few weeks before I got sick of issues and went back to xp.

 

Fast forward a few months and back to vista for what reason I don't know. I've been on vista for a few months now and am very near going back to xp for good.

 

:crap::doh:

[Reaver 10]

I feel your pain brother...do I ever. Things just go haywire for no reason randomly on my computer. I am about to deep six it into Pensacola Pay/Gulf of Mexico if they don't come up with an update soon.

[Sparrow 10]

I don't see a reason yet to switch to vista. Sure it has the nicer user interface but i am not a bells and whistles guy, i just want it to work.

Heard enough bad things about it that makes me hesitate a great deal. Someday i'll have to switch, like with win95, which i said i'd never use . Alternatives are linux and apple but i'd rather go for linux.

XP runs nice'n smooth, never had to reformat anything and i still wonder what i bought that virus scanner for.

[Reaver 10]

I don't see a reason yet to switch to vista. Sure it has the nicer user interface but i am not a bells and whistles guy, i just want it to work.

Heard enough bad things about it that makes me hesitate a great deal. Someday i'll have to switch, like with win95, which i said i'd never use . Alternatives are linux and apple but i'd rather go for linux.

XP runs nice'n smooth, never had to reformat anything and i still wonder what i bought that virus scanner for.

 

My prpblem is that I bought a computer fairly recently and it came with Vista preinstalled....bad move. Too many bugs..it may be good once they get the kinks worked out..but until then..XP is good enough.

[Sparrow 10]

Sorry to hear that Reaver, feel for you.

I read that Vista greatly degrades perfomance because of copyright and content protection features. Also all hardware drivers have to be rewritten for vista and authorized by microsoft.

 

Somewhen in the future there will be no way getting around this, early adaption has always been a

when it comes to MS.

[Reaver 10]

Yeah it's not quite as bad as I probably make it sound, but it really sucks.

 

I am going with a mac next time no doubt. Microsoft is a bunch of thieves in my opinion....meaning that they force you to use their products and they steal your data BIG TIME. It has gotten out of hand in recent years...okay that's my rant.

[MC 10]

My prpblem is that I bought a computer fairly recently and it came with Vista preinstalled....bad move. Too many bugs..it may be good once they get the kinks worked out..but until then..XP is good enough.

 

Most computer builders sell a "downgrade" kit for like $20. It's a cd with Windows xp so you can roll back to windows xp.

You would get that via the maker of your computer if you wanted to do it.

 

I support macs and pc's so I know both sides. I LOVE the macs but they are more $ and some software isn't mac compatible. Of course you can run virtualization software like vmware fusion or parallels to run windows on the newer intel macs. I wanted a 17" macbook pro soooo bad but it cost 3x what my HP 17" was. :\

[Reaver 10]

Thanks for that info...I am gonna look into that.