Posts by Kyle Martin67

Yeah, I know—I’ve got a full-sized tower, so you can fit whatever you want in there 🙂
Anyway, thanks! I'll take it!

Hi there, thanks for getting back to me.
I actually already have an SSD, so I'm mostly just weighing my options for adding more storage.
The catch is that my motherboard is an mATX—so I really need a PCIe slot and as many SATA ports as I can get my hands on.
With that in mind, I was looking at this as a potential alternative:
Product Link:

What are your thoughts on this one?

Hey everyone,

So, what I'm really looking for is a solid bundle—specifically a motherboard, processor, and memory kit all tied together.

My main focus would be photo editing in Photoshop and running AutoCAD—though I won't be doing any heavy 3D modeling.
What's the budget? $1333.
It would be absolutely wonderful if we could actually find these components available on Discount24...

LP, and thanks in advance!

The guy already has a Western Digital installed, and his motherboard supports SATA 😉

I actually received a much smarter suggestion—it’s probably better to just put those $150 toward a beefier processor now, then look into building a whole new rig later on 🙂

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice on my current setup:

ASUS P5K motherboard
Corsair XMS2 2x2 GB DDR2 RAM
Intel Core 2 duo E6600
NVIDIA GeForce GT 210
EVGA 580 W power supply

Here is my question:

Would it actually be worth investing $150 in an additional 4GB of the exact same RAM—just to get a bit more speed out of Photoshop when I'm editing photos?

Thanks!

Just a quick tip while you're blowing out the computer—try to hold the fans steady so they don't spin freely. If you let them spin too fast from the air pressure, they might start making a buzzing sound after a little while. 😉
Plus, honestly, that canned compressed air isn't worth a damn anyway. 🙂

Keith Sanchez6 said:Of course they’re screwing you over. It feels like anyone starting a new business is basically forced to buy brand-new hardware just to get legitimate Windows licenses. Honestly—I have a few choice words for them if I ever ran into them. 😁 My advice? Before you commit to any big moves, please—just ask Microsoft or someone who actually understands licensing laws rather than relying on those government inspectors. Unfortunately, most people don't grasp the legalities or the specific licensing rules, but frankly, it seems like the inspectors don't really get it either. Plus, some things just have to be figured out as you go. When Windows 7 first rolled out, I remember at a seminar they told us only the Pro version was allowed for businesses or small firms. But then, by this time last year, it turned out you could technically use Home Premium too—though, obviously, you can't join a domain with it. I only found that out by total accident because I made a point to go straight to Microsoft to double-check.

An update on that issue I posted about a few days ago—since I haven't seen any replies, I didn't have the time or the patience to keep tinkering and waiting around. I just reinstalled the OS. We'll see if the problem resurfaces and when. This time, though, I'm going to keep a log of every single piece of software installed on this machine—date and name included. Hardware passed all the diagnostics perfectly; everything looks fine. For now, the reinstall seems to have fixed it.

Well, whatever happened, happened. Moving forward, we'll check in here first, then reach out to Microsoft, and leave the state inspectors for dead last. 🙂

Keith Sanchez6 said:Sometimes federal inspectors just don't know what they're doing. Honestly, your best bet is to call Microsoft directly—if an inspector tries to push back against what Microsoft tells you, you can use that as leverage. You can absolutely buy Windows without having the physical box sitting on a shelf; all you really need are the product keys and/or your licensing agreements. I’ve seen cases where inspectors didn't even understand what they were looking at. All this nonsense about needing a specific receipt is ridiculous—for instance, you could have received a computer as a gift, started your business, and put it into service, and yet your Windows keys would still match up perfectly. There shouldn't be any issues regarding licensing. It feels like these guys just make things up to justify handing out fines. Besides, who keeps the boxes? Maybe your wife stepped on it, or maybe she tossed it in the trash after you had a disagreement. Does that suddenly make you unlicensed?

Well, those bureaucrats from the regulatory agencies told us the exact same thing. Before we even went through the process of incorporating our business, we did our homework to see how everything worked. We actually wanted to use our home computers for the office, but they wouldn't allow it—they insisted we needed a paper trail for every single PC, blah, blah, blah... So, my partner and I were essentially forced to go out and buy two separate machines—one laptop for field work and one desktop for the office...
And as for Windows, that's what they told us too...
Man, it's clear that not many people actually understand the nuances of these laws...

As for home use, I'm honestly not entirely sure...
I do know how things work if you're running a business or a small firm, though...

To be perfectly honest, I just use Windows 7 from TPB🤣

Just a quick heads-up if you’re planning on buying Windows 7 and want to ensure you're 100% legally compliant:

When federal auditors came by our office to audit our software licenses, they specifically demanded:

- The original purchase receipt for the Windows license
- The actual retail box—they check to make sure the serial number on the packaging matches the receipt perfectly
- The COA sticker on the PC itself, verifying that the product key in the software matches the physical label

We honestly thought we could just cut corners by picking up some cheap stickers online from a site like eBay, but let me tell you—it's not worth the headache. It's all very strict stuff.

For more specifics, you can always reach out to Microsoft at 1-800-MICROSOFT
or contact the IRS or your local regulatory agency for guidance on compliance.

Honestly, just grab a one-terabyte Seagate BarraCuda and call it a day—you can't beat that price point for a solid drive. 😉

Timothy Kim60 said:It’s often suggested they are fine for basic storage, but I’ve heard quite a few stories about those newer WD Green drives failing on people—(EDIT: and yeah, Fosna just confirmed those rumors above...)
Maybe you'll get lucky, or maybe those older models actually had better build quality than the current ones.

And honestly, Seagate had one specific series—I can't remember if it was for laptops or desktops—that was absolutely criminal, though hopefully, they aren't selling them anymore. My own Barracuda in my laptop felt pretty sketchy for a while... I don't know, maybe it's just my subjective experience without hard proof, but I wouldn't personally risk buying a Seagate.

If you see some people getting through with a Green drive while others struggle—like what happened to me—then it might be worth just spending a few extra bucks to grab a Blue and call it a day. 🙂

As for Seagate, everyone seems to have a different opinion on them. 🙂

So far, I've had two drives die on me, but when it comes to WD, I haven't lost a single one yet. 🙂

Benjamin King2 said:Pretty much, yeah. It's been about four years.

Alright, thanks for the help 🙂

For now, at least, I can get the HDD Regenerator boot CD running. Once I actually need to run some tests from my own PC, then I'll really have to sit down and figure out my next move.🙂

Larry Ortiz5 said:Why is it such a pain to find this on Google? 🤦

Look, you're running the 2011 trial version here—give that one a shot instead.

http://hdd-regenerator.en.softonic.com/#author_review

Look, searching Google isn't the difficult part—it's just that we're specifically using version 1.71 because we managed to track down the portable edition... since we work at a firm and all, you know how things go.😉

Timothy Kim60 said:I wouldn't hesitate for a second—I’d go straight for the 1TB WD Caviar Blue. I actually have one of those Blue drives from late 2006 that’s been running non-stop until this very moment—not a single bad sector, zero issues, and despite being defragmented countless times (even though people claim that’s bad for them) and put through every diagnostic tool under the sun... it’s just bulletproof. If the newer ones are even remotely close in quality—and word is they are, often being a total steal—then you're getting a premium product here.

Green Avoided

It’s not like the Green is bad for storage, and the Blue works for both system and storage too—personally, I’ve been running my 500GB WD Green for five years now for both OS and data, and it’s been perfect, no bad sectors at all.

Benjamin King2 said:It really ought to be running in IEEE mode—unless you're somehow rocking some ancient, prehistoric version from the Stone Age.

Hmm, I'm currently on version 1.71... would you consider that outdated?

Larry Ortiz5 said:Benjamin King2 makes a fair point. Drives used to be much more affordable until those massive floods hit China. It looks like things have finally stabilized over there, allowing them to bring prices back down. That’s great news 😬

They did drop the prices, though not quite all the way back yet—and actually, it wasn't even the flooding in China that caused the snag, but rather issues out of Thailand 😉

Benjamin King2 said:If you're willing to shell out a little extra, there's also this 500 GB option:

Though, honestly, prices haven't really bounced back to where they were before the big storm hit. 😁

But hey, you can still grab a 1.5 TB WD Green for about $90—which is actually still a better deal than anything from Seagate. 🙂

I mean, if you're just looking for a basic storage drive, a WD Green should do the trick—you can grab one starting at 1TB for about $167...