Posts by Rachel Jones8

Since I haven't heard back from any moderators, maybe an admin could clarify why the rules—if we're even following those unwritten ones—seem so inconsistent? It feels like some people get blocked from posting while others are totally fine to jump in.
(Just a quick reminder: my post got nuked simply because I wasn't a property owner, even though I didn't break a single rule regarding Booking.com)
Take admin L3go, for example. In his post, he mentioned that moving posts is okay, but deleting them isn't. So, why does it feel different now? Why are posts sticking around even when they aren't from owners? (I've scrolled through about 23 pages...)
Also, why not just put these rules on the first page so everyone is on the same page, instead of just applying them whenever someone feels like it?
Look, I don't mind following the rules, even if they seem a bit weird or illogical. If that's the rule, I won't post. I'm not complaining about that.
But I am wondering: why does it seem like everyone else gets a pass?

My bad, just realized I doubled up on that one.
Didn't mean to, the forum just glitched out.

So, since we were told that the "Where to Advertise Private Rentals" thread is strictly for landlords—and given the moderator's comment about checking who actually owns property (though how they do that is anyone's guess), plus admin L3go's note that my posts shouldn't be deleted but just moved to the "Offtopic topic American tourism" thread—I’ve got a question about how things are being handled over there.
The thread is still flooded with random off-topic chatter about everything under the sun, even though there are better places for that stuff. There's hardly anything actually about where to list ads.
Right now, everyone is debating guest reviews for landlords.

What I'm wondering is: how is it that a user who isn't even a landlord is jumping into this debate? Why weren't those posts moved to the Offtopic section?
The rule was explained (even if it wasn't added to the original post like I asked)—only landlords can post in "Where to Advertise," and even if it gets off-topic, those posts don't get deleted or moved.
Basically, if you aren't advertising, you shouldn't be part of the rental talk OR the off-topic talk in that specific thread; you should be posting in "Offtopic topic American tourism."
So why is the exact opposite happening right now?
(Honestly, the rules should just be written clearly and followed consistently.)

I'm not dropping names because I don't have a problem with any specific user. I'm sure the mods know exactly who I mean, and they really didn't need to verify if this person is a landlord, considering they already admitted it themselves:

I'm just a bystander here, not a landlord...

Now you guys have just gone and confused me even more. 😁
So, is that temperature actually fine or what?

Timothy Kim60 said:Nah, AMD handles monitoring differently than Intel. That number you’re seeing in HWMonitor isn't actually the CPU temperature—it's what they call "socket temp."
I can't see any text to rewrite here! Just an image link. What am I working with?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=1#post5237937
There were huge debates over what was what.

My CPU is sitting at around 36-38° right now.

Adam Moore3 said:Yeah, I nearly lost it too when I saw how hot Athlon was running. Look, CPU, it’s not about the package like what The New Guy showed in that photo—we're talking about wrong sensor readings here. I have zero clue which package he's even pulling those sensor temps from... And hey, just because he pops the side panel doesn't mean the temps will actually drop. It could easily make things worse depending on the airflow and the room temp. I tried that exact thing with my old rig once. In the end, I just left the side open whenever I needed to check the temps.

My old rig used to have this display issue—I don't even know what the exact numbers were—but it would spin around 26-27°C. Once the summer heat hit, it’d jump up to like 35°C and just die on me completely. Once it cooled down a bit, I could turn it back on and everything would be fine. Any idea why?
This unit has its own display too—not sure exactly where it’s pulling the readings from, though. It usually sits right around 72 to 75 degrees. There’s even a boost button, probably for the fan or something, since my old one had that too... but honestly, I don't hear or feel any real difference when I mess with it.
Case feels ice cold. Even with the exhaust blowing out, the air is totally chilled.
It's sitting around 68 to 72 degrees in here. Heating's totally dead.
My rig is just over a year old. I haven't even opened it up myself—only took it to the shop once to get an SSD and some RAM installed. They even blew out the dust while they were at it. Still got all the factory stickers on it, too.
It’s been running fine lately. Aside from that one quick black screen—which fixed itself instantly—it seems like the reinstall did the trick. At least for now.
Should I be sweating this temperature spike even if nothing’s actually happening yet?

Edit: I just remembered... a buddy mentioned he ran a stress test on it, and everything seemed totally fine. Not sure if that even matters here?

Here’s another one... now I've got five tabs open and YouTube music is blasting in the background.
View on imgur

Which numbers actually matter here? Where should I be looking? Is this for the Intel Core i3 or the Intel Radeon?
Are these temps okay... or what?

So far, I’ve only dared to try step number 3. (At least it hasn't crashed on me yet—no more black screens forcing a hard reboot lately)

View on imgur

When the guys were putting my PC together, they told me this cooler was plenty, maybe even overkill since I don't really do anything heavy. (I'm definitely not a gamer)

fadedorca66 said:So what did you end up going with? What was the final build you bought? It's a pain trying to dig through this mountain of posts to find it. 😁

Here it is:

Intel Core i3 BOX
Asrock FM2 FM2A88M Extreme 4+
DDR3 4Gb (1x4) Kingston 1600MHz HX
Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA3 64MB
Chicony 400W 80plus PSU
Seagate ST250DM001 SATA
ZALMAN Z9 Case
PC Assembly - free
Zalman CNPS8000
USB multicard reader black

added later:
Western Digital Blue 120GB
DDR3 4gb (1x4) Kingston 1600MHz

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Most likely, a newer driver version will fix it, so you'll need to keep an eye on that.

How am I supposed to keep track of that? (Considering my "vast" IT expertise...)
Do I just look for an Intel processor update in Device Manager, or check the web, or
search online, or 🤷 🙂

fadedorca66 said:So, what did you end up going with? What’s the final build look like? It's such a pain trying to dig through this massive thread to find it. 😁

Should I list out all the parts? Alright, let me dig up the receipt and I'll get back to you.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Could be an issue with your Intel integrated graphics drivers... honestly, what else would it be? 😳

Yeah, that message about the Intel driver probably refers to that, but still... how do you even fix this? It’s not like my buddy—who actually knows his way around this stuff—hasn't tried everything. He went through the whole driver reinstall process and honestly? He can't find the problem anywhere.
Didn't happen again today. It only acted up once like you guys said it would... just a quick glitch that fixed itself. Everything's running smooth now.
Man, I really hope things stay this way. Can we just not have a repeat of that black screen scenario? You know, where the whole PC just dies until you hit restart? That was a nightmare.

Just wanted to give an update... after a fresh macOS reinstall, the issues seem gone. To be fair, my connection keeps dropping—not on the router side, but just on the PC itself—so I have to troubleshoot by restarting the network adapter to get things back on track. But hey, it’s been a week without any blue or black screens, and everything's fine, Chrome works great. 🙂

Edit:
Actually, scratch that... about ten minutes after I posted this, the screen went black again... same old driver error message... then it just recovered. It's not as bad as before, everything is running, it just flickered out for a second.
Is this just the start of a whole new saga? 🙂

wanderinggardener12 said:Clothing, meals, the everyday essentials—leave those to the parents.
As for the godparents? That’s where the real gifts come in.
I’ve put together a few thoughts, though one could go on forever:
A rugged backpack, maybe something for hiking or long trips (around $200 - $167)
A sturdy tent (maybe $500 - $333)
A high-quality piece of luggage (around $500 - $333)
A bicycle (roughly $500 - $667)
Rollerblades or ice skates (about $300 - $200)
Fine art prints or some watercolor sets (perhaps $1000 - $667)
A substantial book, a monograph, or a heavy dictionary (around $300 - $333)
Jewelry
A watch
An overnight getaway for two (roughly $400 - $200)
A surprise day trip—think Disney World or white-water rafting...
A flight in a small plane or a hot air balloon (somewhere around $100)
Skydiving, provided the parents don't have a heart attack (about $100)
Art supplies: an easel, drawing boards, acrylics, brushes (around $200)
Two tickets to that one concert everyone is dying to see
Laser hair removal for the girls (if the parents agree, of course)
An above-ground pool (maybe $300 - $333)
A foreign language course (around $500 - $333)
A sewing class
Singing lessons
A sewing machine, if they actually show an interest
Speed reading classes
Cooking classes
A camera (around $333)
A pet—dog, cat, fish—pending parental approval
Planting a tree, if there's a yard and the parents allow it, along with the necessary tools
A piece of furniture for their room, if they have one, and if the parents are on board (an armchair, a vanity, perhaps some eccentric lamp...)
Starter kits for a hobby, like jewelry making or millinery...
A telescope
A microscope
I could keep listing things until tomorrow.
It doesn't always have to be a physical object to hold onto; it can be an experience that lingers long after the thing itself is gone—something that encourages them to explore the world or stay active...

Can you share where you got those prices?
I know flying a plane isn't too bad, but
hot air balloons and skydiving definitely are.
If you know a spot for a balloon ride or a jump for about $100, let me know...
Looking for options near NYC... and obviously needs to be legit and safe... don't want to end up on a news report after one flight. 😁

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind if I need it. One browser is plenty for today. 🙂 And about those betting sites, like I said... they aren't even showing up on Chrome anymore, so it's not like I can get them to work. If they were there, I could at least write them down, but—nothing. They just vanished.
I need Chrome for my banking... this Water is just an experiment... I'd really love for Chrome to just work... but whenever it's running, everything breaks.
Maybe they just disappeared by some miracle... maybe I should try pretending they won't load. 😉

Timothy Kim60 said:Why would you even need an American browser? 😬

If you're looking to ditch Chrome, here's how.

No way, I'm not feeling it at all... I've used it forever and honestly would rather stick with what I know, but since my screen goes black on me every single day (like I mentioned earlier), I'm just venting a bit. I'm waiting for my buddy to get back and see if he can fix it, unless I have to haul the whole rig to a repair shop. If it wasn't happening on Edge, I figured maybe switching over to Chrome might actually work, since it's basically the same thing I usually use.

You got anything similar to that? This is it. Check the last bullet point—I dropped a link there for a migration tool from Chrome to help you move those bookmarks over. Here? You’ve got American English. Obviously, you'll set that up right after you finish installing the browser.

Once you've got it installed, just click the menu in the top left corner of Chrome. Head over to the extensions icon—that little blue puzzle piece—then search for "adblock" in the bar on the right. Just hit install on the first one that pops up. Easy enough, right?

A bit late for me to be digging into this... but wait, are you actually pitching me a new browser now? Or what?
I probably wouldn't be able to get bookmarks working in Chrome anyway if they've disappeared over there too.
Better off hitting the sack... long day.

Seriously though, thanks to everyone stepping up to help. I can't thank you guys enough. 🙂

darkowl72 said:Whoa, seriously? It actually has 😍 How could it not? It downloaded for me just fine. It’s probably just zipped up, so you gotta unzip it and drop it into that folder. If you don't have a zip tool handy, just grab 7-Zip—it's free and handles basically any format out there.

It should be in your All Programs list, though maybe it isn't listed under Waterfox. Check the exact file path you're calling to find it in that folder.

And yeah, obviously the Bookmarks are gone. You're using a different browser now; you've gotta import them from one to the other.

Nope, something's definitely off.
Whatever, I'm not sweating it too much. My buddy will fix those little things when he gets here... but the whole situation feels weird. Why hasn't that blackout happened this week? Just constant chaos lately. Robert Rodriguez2 said it might be a Windows issue... not that I don't believe him, I just don't know anything about this stuff. Would a reinstall help, or was something wrong with Firefox? I'll just stick with Waterfox for the week and see how it goes.
My Bookmarks were right there... until I clicked something... now everything looks a bit different. I just realized some changes happened... nothing until I clicked a different icon and saw the Help menu offering support for Waterfox. So yeah, I'm definitely on Waterfox now.
A minute ago, I couldn't even get Firefox to open.

Timothy Kim60 said:My bad, sorry! That folder where it just says "Program Files" is the 64-bit version.

You won't see your Bookmarks in there because it's a different browser.🙂
Maybe it asked you if you wanted to import your Bookmarks during the first launch? (If the option popped up).

edit
Look for the bolded part.

Maybe... if I remember right, it didn't really ask me anything.
I don't see any bolded text anywhere. 😢

Edit:
The Bookmarks aren't even in Firefox anymore, so I clearly can't import them... no clue why they vanished.
Not exactly thrilled about it, but... it happens. The main thing is just getting the core issue fixed.

Sorry, I'm not really following you... I don't get this stuff. I installed it today and everything seemed fine, but now my Bookmarks are gone and the whole thing switched to English.
Under Computer - Local Disk C - all I see are Program Files and Program Files x86. There's no sign of Waterfox anywhere.
I can't find any x64... even though I know I have the 64-bit version.
I'm totally lost here....🙂
But hey, aside from some unexpected changes, at least it's working and hasn't crashed on me today. 😁
That's enough for me today, thanks guys...
...taking notes. 😉

Quote: The New Guy

darkowl72 said:Waterfox is just the 64-bit version of Firefox, and people swear it’s the fastest browser out there. On that site where you downloaded it, check under the language packs—they don't have an American one, only Canadian, but you could give that a shot. You probably just need to download it and drop it right into the Waterfox folder.

Check out the downloads page here. Ready to switch things up?
It’s all here... but I'm hitting an error that makes zero sense to me. Any ideas?

Quote: The New Guy

Where can you find the program? Just right-click the icon and hit properties. That’ll show you the full file path and the exact name of whatever is running when you click it. Simple enough, right?

It says it's under users /username... weird that it's not in Program Files, right?
I hit Start and clicked All Programs, but nothing shows up. Shouldn't there be something there?

So... I spent the whole week using IE and aside from this annoying red warning popping up constantly—which seems totally unrelated to the previous one—I didn't run into that daily headache again. (You know, that black screen and the error about the AMD driver)
Yesterday and today I tried out Chrome for a bit, and still nothing... then I stumbled upon this: https://support.mozilla.org/hr/questions/968168
so I figured I'd see what the deal was. My bad though, I didn't realize there was a difference between the setup version and the portable one
https://www.waterfoxproject.org/downloads.html
and I clicked portable...
The thing is, I don't get it... I downloaded it, but it's not showing up in my list of installed programs. When I found where it saved and clicked the desktop shortcut, the icon says waterfox.exe, but when I click it, it just opens... everything looks exactly like Firefox, except it's in English instead of American English like my Firefox was. If I go to help at the top, it does say Waterfox, but otherwise, it's identical to Firefox.
I have no clue why it isn't in my programs list or how to switch the language to American English.
When I launched it, something popped up about the Firewall, so I shut it down... I wasn't sure if I should let it through.
Anyway, even though Waterfox isn't in my programs list, I've got the icon in my taskbar and it worked today without that issue I was having with Firefox.
Basically, I click the Waterfox icon and it works, looking just like Firefox. But under Start -> All Programs, there's no sign of Waterfox. The icon has an .exe extension... but it doesn't trigger an installation, it just opens the app, which looks exactly like Firefox.
I'll stick with this for the next few days and see if any problems pop up.
(Sorry for the long, confusing post, I'm a little lost right now)

Edit:
The devil was on my shoulder so I started clicking things (something about reloading) and now both Firefox and Waterfox (they won't run at the same time) are a total mess... my Bookmarks are gone... and I had a ton of them. Now my Firefox is stuck in English too...
Yeah, I know, I messed up. Totally my own fault... I'm done tinkering. 🙈

Robert Rodriguez2 said:honestly, the easiest and fastest fix is just to wipe it and reinstall Windows... trying to diagnose all this crap is a total nightmare.

My buddy told me last time he was over that it’s not even a Windows issue. We haven't talked since and won't for another two weeks, so I gotta be patient.
He just suggested I ditch Firefox... so that's what I did.
If he's right, then switching should fix it... there's really no other way. (Plus, after I upgraded the RAM and the SSD recently, it actually worked fine for a while).
Nobody's stressing out right now 😁 ...I'm just doing my homework while he's away... so when we finally catch up, it'll be easier to decide on a plan. I'll tell him how the PC has been acting and what advice I picked up.
Everything else seems fine, though. It hasn't crashed once in the last few days.

Thanks for the reply.
So it’s got nothing to do with my previous issue... which, by the way, isn't even popping up now that I've switched over to IE. But hey, that's not really a fix, just more "diagnostics," right? Honestly, I hate being on IE—I'm such a Firefox girl through and through—but at least now I know more. We'll see if this info actually helps. I'll give Chrome a shot too.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:this basically means Google caught wind of a virus on that site and they're using that warning to stop you from getting infected.

The thing is, my computer is "trying" to go to that site on its own... it's not me doing it. It happens while I'm just browsing the forum.
Got any tips or ideas about that other issue? Like, why does it only happen when Firefox is running? Is there anything else worth trying besides what's already been suggested? And... can I count on the repair shop to actually fix this, since it only happens randomly, maybe once a day? (It's impossible to predict or trigger it on purpose).

Got some updates... I've been using IE lately to see if the same thing keeps happening. It hasn't. But instead, I've run into a few other issues. Red screens and warnings.





So, what gives?
Could this be linked to that "google redirect" virus?
http://atechjourney.com/google-redir...manually.html/

Thanks for the tip... he was messing around with that Catalyste stuff you mentioned... moving things in and out... I was just watching from the sidelines, so I'm not exactly sure what his process was.
I'll jot down your advice and show him... if there's something he missed, maybe he can try it... otherwise, I guess I'll have to take it to a repair shop.
Either way, thanks for any help at all... I'd much rather fix this easily than deal with a trip to the service center.
He actually suggested I try ditching Firefox for a bit to see if that stops the issues, so I'll give that a shot over the next few days... He won't be able to help me out for maybe two or three weeks, so I've gotta figure this out myself... until then, I'll just keep studying and taking notes on your suggestions.🙂