Posts by Lawrence Barnes64

Jacob Martinez6 said:Lawrence Barnes64, thanks a ton, man, my Wi-Fi is finally working again. 👍👍👍:klap::klap::klap::klap:

No, seriously, don't even sweat it... just happy I could help out... I'll go brew myself a coffee in your honor, haha

Chris Hall4 said:I’ve got a warranty on my drive, and since the first shop didn't charge me a dime, I'm sure as hell not paying another cent to fix this mess. They should be repairing it for free whether it takes two tries or a hundred—that's not even the point. What's actually driving me insane is how this thing can just lock up on me out of nowhere. Honestly, my gut tells me I might've been ripped off; if they actually swapped the drive, the issue shouldn't still be happening.

So here's the deal: is it actually possible for a game to cause Windows to fail to boot, even though everything runs perfectly fine while I'm playing? No freezing, no overheating, nothing weird at all.

If you actually got a warranty claim approved for that drive, then you've got a new drive in there. A game isn't going to mess with Windows being able to boot up.

analogwalker2 said:Man, I really stepped in it this time.
Basically, I somehow managed to install two different versions of Windows XP sp3 onto the exact same partition.
So, naturally, the big question is: can I just scrub one of those Windows installations away without having to wipe the whole partition and start from scratch?
I mean, look, formatting the drive isn't the end of the world, but I’ve already got a ton of software set up and I’m really not looking forward to reinstalling everything from zero.

It’s not gonna happen, man. Just back up whatever files you actually care about, because honestly, reinstalling programs is way easier than dealing with that mess.

Look, if you really feel like they ripped you off, why didn't you push back and drag that thing right back to the shop to get it sorted? I mean, at the end of the day, you shelled out the cash... you gotta stand your ground and threaten to sue them if that's what it takes! I just hope you were smart enough to be responsible and grab a receipt for both the hard drive and the labor—that's two separate line items, so make sure you're demanding a receipt for the service too!... I don't get how you can just let this slide. And honestly, if you're talking about Windows Aero issues, then we're looking at a GPU problem... the hard drive should be fine since it's brand new and Windows is running on it, yet the exact same crap is happening again...

Look, if it's showing up like that in the Device Manager like you said, then the thing actually has to be working...

I mean, it might be functioning perfectly fine, you just haven't figured out how to actually talk to it yet...
Try hitting Start > Run, type in "fsquirt" and hit enter, then just mess around in there and see if you can send or receive something...
Once you've done that, check this out:

See if there's a Wi-Fi icon hanging around somewhere and set it to stay visible all the time, just to be safe.
Also, check the Control Panel under "Devices and Printers" to see if anything shows up there.

...and hey, you can also head over to the Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel > Change adapter settings > right-click on the Wi-Fi connection > view Wi-Fi network connections and then try to add a device—there should be a button right there that says add a bluetooth device.

Terry Scott65 said:So, I was hanging out at my buddy's place... we pulled the GPU out, cleaned the cooler, swapped the thermal paste, put everything back together... and still nothing. Same exact mess.

It won't even boot into macOS, and trying to use Safe Mode is a total nightmare—the resolution gets cranked up and the whole screen is just covered in these green diagonal lines over white patches. Honestly, I didn't snap a photo because it's such a headache to describe, but basically, the screen is pure chaos.

The browser won't launch, I can't even get into the display settings, nothing works (well, technically the browser tries to open, but I don't even know how to explain what it looks like), it’s just impossible to actually use the internet because it feels like the software isn't even there.
Icons are missing, right-clicking just pulls up these empty little bars, but I did manage to spot that tiny red Intel icon, clicked it, and got a notification saying drivers aren't installed (my friend mentioned he actually uninstalled them himself while in Safe Mode). But how am I supposed to get them back? Or is this seriously the end of the road for the card? (Which is what I told him, honestly), though I'm praying there's some kind of fix out there, even if there probably isn't.

Long story short, the usual way of restoring drivers isn't working.

And I'm wondering, what actually causes a GPU to die like this? It's only two years old, and when I bought it, it was actually a pretty solid card.
Never even touched overclocking.

Is it just lack of maintenance or dust buildup? Or what? Because two years feels like an incredibly short lifespan to me.

Look, the hardest part is just admitting something bit the dust, but that's reality... mine happened to be a gorgeous, huge 22-inch monitor (BenQ) that kicked the bucket right after the warranty expired, so what can you say? Fixing it wasn't worth the cash, man... just to save yourself and your pal all the drama, just pull that GPU out of your rig, toss it into his, and see if everything runs fine. If it does, then grab your coats, head out into the cold, hit up a store, and grab a new one. Don't rush to slap it in immediately though; let it sit for a bit so it reaches room temperature since it's freezing outside, otherwise you might fry it with condensation. ☕ 🤣

Hang in there, man. Hope it goes okay. 🙂

Hey, you got that Bluetooth icon sitting down there in your system tray?

Well, my graphics card just kicked the bucket, so that's
that.

Terry Scott65 said:Hey everyone 🙂

So, a buddy of mine is dealing with a real headache here 🙄

Every time he tries to boot up Windows, the whole thing just keeps auto-restarting before it even gets going. He can only actually get into the system if he uses Safe Mode, and it feels like some kind of nightmare involving the graphics card or the drivers because the screen ends up looking like this

http://prntscr.com/5zah15

So... is there any way to actually fix this mess, or is he looking at a totally fresh installation of Windows?

Thanks in advance for the help

Look, tell him to try wiping out those GPU drivers while he's stuck in Safe Mode and then see if he can boot normally.
And also...
The BIOS shouldn't be acting up like that... maybe have him try running just the Windows installer itself to see if it'll even start the process, but tell him not to go nuking everything just yet... just to test the waters...

He could also try a System Restore once he's in Safe Mode, though I wouldn't bet much money on that actually working.

Just grab CCleaner and make sure you check every single box if you really want to wipe your history clean and nuked everything from orbit
http://cache.filehippo.com/img/ex/3049__ccleaner1.png
CCLEANER DOWNLOAD

So, have you actually even tried using a computer with a mouse that isn't totally broken? 🐔

swifttinker40 said:There’s this one site I use for online poker that keeps nagging me to install Java. So, I go ahead and install it, right? But then the site just asks me to do it all over again, and it’s like a never-ending loop of nonsense. Why does it keep bugging me for an installation when I know for a fact I’ve got the latest version sitting on my hard drive?
How do I fix this mess?

Which site are we talking about here? It might be looking for a specific legacy version or something...

wearymason4 said:🤦...it doesn't even matter at this point because they've already figured out what actually caused that spike, otherwise people would just keep making excuses, claiming it's just all those Windows updates or background software installations running on day one of a new PC setup, or you know, those settings we can tweak in Chrome or Safari regarding cache and browsing history and whatever else...

oops 😵

Nicholas Miller6 said:Look, I just don't want it running if it doesn't need to, wasting power for absolutely no reason.

Wasting power? 🐔
Man, my rig pulls maybe 3 watts when it's shut down, which is basically nothing over an entire year. $1.75

If you're really that worried about it, just go into the BIOS and disable USB Legacy and USB Wake Up...
you can also check out what else is tucked away in the APP Charger settings within the UEFI

Nicholas Miller6 said:Look, I just don't want it running if I don't need it, wasting electricity for nothing.

Wasting power? 🐔
Man, my rig pulls maybe 3 watts when it's shut down, which is basically nothing over an entire year. $1.75

If you're really that worried about it, just go into the BIOS and kill the USB legacy support and the USB wake up settings...
you should be able to see what else is in there, including that APP charger option in the UEFI

so, what kind of antivirus are you running these days?

Man, my battery just totally gave up on me... usually, if you leave a battery plugged into your laptop 24/7 without letting it actually cycle through discharging and recharging, it’s gonna die way sooner than it should. It’s like, if it's constantly tethered to the wall, the battery just loses its mojo faster. You might want to take a look at the connectors on both the battery and the laptop itself, though, just in case there's some gunk or dust messing things up, but honestly, I wouldn't bet on that being the issue...

malwarebytes scan is a total must, honestly. And look, if you’ve got any of those sketchy "optimizer" programs installed—you know, the ones that claim they can defrag your drive or magically fix your PC—just trash them immediately. I've learned the hard way that those things just end up triggering themselves out of nowhere and causing nothing but massive headaches. But yeah, first thing's first, go grab this: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/var9/

Man, I’ve been right there with you... it’s definitely not some weird glitch caused by one specific update, it's more about just staying on top of things and finally making the jump to Windows 8.1

I finally sorted my mess out just by letting the updates actually run through to completion... honestly, I can't stress enough how much you need to keep Windows 8.1 updated constantly, because if you don't, the whole thing is basically a ticking time bomb of bugs and security holes, and you really don't want to be caught slipping when things go south

Nicholas Miller6 said:The keyboard light isn't just staying on constantly, if that's what you're getting at. It flashes for maybe a second every once in a while... And honestly, I can't even get into the BIOS using that USB keyboard anyway; I have to use the PS2 port for that, so trying to power the rig up via the keyboard is basically a waste of my time.
I'll dig back through the BIOS settings and see if there's an option for this somewhere...
I'm not sure if it was always like this, but I noticed that when the PC is totally shut down and I plug my phone into a USB port, it actually starts charging.

Just go into your BIOS and enable USB Legacy support, then your keyboard should work fine all the time.
for example: