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Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

If it's 10 years old I wouldn't even check: just replace it.

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Geemer
Nov 4, 2010



Star War Sex Parrot posted:

If it's 10 years old I wouldn't even check: just replace it.

This. But if you're still on IDE, good luck finding a good replacement without needing to upgrade the motherboard (and the entire rest of the PC).

For shits and giggles, you could run the standard portable version of CrystalDiskInfo and post a screenshot of the output.

22 Eargesplitten
Oct 10, 2010



It's from the interim period where they had both IDE and SATA compatibility, thankfully. Otherwise I would have gotten rid of it two or three motherboards ago.

I'll admit I don't know what I'm looking at, but this seems like it's saying the drive is fine.

Nintendo Kid
Aug 4, 2011

by Smythe

Geemer posted:

This. But if you're still on IDE, good luck finding a good replacement without needing to upgrade the motherboard (and the entire rest of the PC).

For shits and giggles, you could run the standard portable version of CrystalDiskInfo and post a screenshot of the output.

Not necessarily. If you have old systems running IDE you usually no longer need to keep massive amounts of data around locally to that machine, so buying a $5 IDE-CF adapter and a $45-$60 64 GB CompactFlash card that can provide neccesary speeds is doable. And of course prices drop quickly if you make the card smaller.

That and a large USB external should do well for someone who had to keep using an old IDE only desktop for some reason.

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

Are there any good recommendations for a micro USB cable? The one that came with my Galaxy is wearing out (stiff on the phone end, insulation splitting, goes into a charging-not charging loop occasionally when I plug it in.) I bought a random off-the-shelf one for my last phone when the same thing happened and it was lovely, had a loose fit and wouldn't stay plugged in.

I'm probably overthinking this.

TWBalls
Apr 16, 2003
My medication never lies
I usually buy a few from Monoprice since they're dirt cheap and I can always toss spares in my car or tool bag.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Fucknag posted:

Are there any good recommendations for a micro USB cable? The one that came with my Galaxy is wearing out (stiff on the phone end, insulation splitting, goes into a charging-not charging loop occasionally when I plug it in.) I bought a random off-the-shelf one for my last phone when the same thing happened and it was lovely, had a loose fit and wouldn't stay plugged in.

I'm probably overthinking this.

I've bought 10+ of various length monoprice ones and so far only one has had any trouble:
http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=102&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307

prices are low but there's shipping so I usually buy a few at a time.

Geemer
Nov 4, 2010



22 Eargesplitten posted:

It's from the interim period where they had both IDE and SATA compatibility, thankfully. Otherwise I would have gotten rid of it two or three motherboards ago.

I'll admit I don't know what I'm looking at, but this seems like it's saying the drive is fine.



The Hardware ECC Recovered being greater than 0 may or may not mean it's having troubles with something, but at this point I'd take a look at my RAM before going whole-hog replacing the hard drive. Try running Memtest86+ for a couple of passes (preferably overnight), to see if there's any issues there.

future ghost
Dec 5, 2005

:byetankie:
Gun Saliva

22 Eargesplitten posted:

It's from the interim period where they had both IDE and SATA compatibility, thankfully. Otherwise I would have gotten rid of it two or three motherboards ago.

I'll admit I don't know what I'm looking at, but this seems like it's saying the drive is fine.
CDI indicates that it's OK, but that drive is old as gently caress so either do what Fishmech said with CF cards or just replace it anyways.

However, since it looks 'clear' I'd suggest running memtest86+ since you may have a bad RAM stick corrupting things since the Windows install keeps breaking. Before you do that give the motherboard a visual check for bad capacitors - Depending on how old it is, it may have blown caps around the CPU/VRMs, and the power supply could have hosed secondary caps or something. (efb, kinda ^^^)

future ghost fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Oct 29, 2014

Jan
Feb 27, 2008

The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.
This question doesn't really fit either in SH/SC or IYG, so, uh, here.

I'm wondering if there's much of a difference in quality between different chargers for plain old AA/AAA batteries? I basically would rather have something that charges reliably than something that charges fast. The last NiMH charger I had (Energizer or something) touted rapid charging and the overcharge safeguard started kicking in after only 4-5 charge cycles.

Jan fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Oct 30, 2014

Chuu
Sep 11, 2004

Grimey Drawer
edit : Ignore this question, moving it to the Overclocking thread.

Rukus
Mar 13, 2007

Hmph.

Jan posted:

This question doesn't really fit either in SH/SC or IYG, so, uh, here.

I'm wondering if there's much of a difference in quality between different chargers for plain old AA/AAA batteries? I basically would rather have something that charges reliably than something that charges fast. The last NiMH charger I had (Energizer or something) touted rapid charging and the overcharge safeguard started kicking in after only 4-5 charge cycles.

Buy an eneloop kit and use nothing else.

Thello
Jan 14, 2007

Captain's Log...
Is there an easy way to mass block all websites but two or three? Every solution I found for my router only blocks specific websites, but what I want is zero internet access save for a few strict permissions during work hours.

gariig
Dec 31, 2004
Beaten into submission by my fiance
Pillbug

Rukus posted:

Buy an eneloop kit and use nothing else.

If you do this make sure it's one of the newer chargers that allows for single batteries to be charged. The older charger needed two batteries in each half to charge.

I have a LaCrosse BC 700 that I pad ~$33 for, but if I was going to purchase one today this Opus looks good and has NLee the Engineer seal of approval.

Also, I'd only purchase Eneloop or Amazon white label batteries

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Thello posted:

Is there an easy way to mass block all websites but two or three? Every solution I found for my router only blocks specific websites, but what I want is zero internet access save for a few strict permissions during work hours.

It will depend on the features of the router. You're basically looking for a policy where you block all but whitelist some, instead of allow all but blacklist some. What router are you using?

Bazanga
Oct 10, 2006
chinchilla farmer
Any suggestions for a fairly modern but cheap firewall that I can buy used and still have it be functional? Planning on setting it up in my house for learning/lab stuff. Was thinking of trying to get a Cisco ASA but I'm not sure how the IOS licensing works.

Spaseman
Aug 26, 2007

I'm a Securitron
RobCo security model 2060-B.
If you ever see any of my brothers tell them Victor says howdy.
Fallen Rib
Are laptop cpu fans supposed to always be running? I just got through putting an ssd in my lovely little netbook and I noticed that when I boot it up the cpu fan isn't running. I can't think of anything I could have done that could have affected the fan but it seems odd that the cpu fan isn't running right when the netbook boots up.

Nintendo Kid
Aug 4, 2011

by Smythe

Spaseman posted:

Are laptop cpu fans supposed to always be running?

No. They should only run once the computer's hot enough to need cooling. Incidentally, platter hard drives often generate more heat than ssds since they use more power, so installing an SSD can cause the laptop to heat up less when idle.

Teledahn
May 14, 2009

What is that bear doing there?


I was cleaning my rather dusty computer, wiping down fans and such. In a misguided attempt to get at the CPU fan better (with a microfiber cloth, no vacuum cleaner involved) I ended up loosening the heat sink. Once I realized this is secured it back in place. I don't conclusively know if the thermal paste was dislodged or shifted or something, but after finishing my cleaning and reconnecting everything my computer gave me a temperature warning in the bios startup. At this point I had a choice to 'press any key to continue' or just switch my computer off. I opened the case, all the fans seemed to be giving good airflow, so I let it continue to boot. It shut itself off about twenty seconds after windows was fully running, before I got a chance to check temperature sensors.
My technical proficiency with hardware is growing but I've never applied thermal paste or installed a CPU, and this computer's CPU/heatsink have been undisturbed since they were built (in 2009).
Is it probable that the heat-sink is no longer well seated on the CPU? (I am supposing yes)
I assume SH/SC has an apropriate thread but browsing unfamiliar sub forums on my phone is not super easy.
What do I need to know to pick out and apply the appropriate thermal paste? I assume I need to clean off the old stuff?

LRADIKAL
Jun 10, 2001

Fun Shoe
I've got some basic instructions here...
http://bit.ly/1rFje8y

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Teledahn posted:

I was cleaning my rather dusty computer, wiping down fans and such. In a misguided attempt to get at the CPU fan better (with a microfiber cloth, no vacuum cleaner involved) I ended up loosening the heat sink. Once I realized this is secured it back in place. I don't conclusively know if the thermal paste was dislodged or shifted or something, but after finishing my cleaning and reconnecting everything my computer gave me a temperature warning in the bios startup. At this point I had a choice to 'press any key to continue' or just switch my computer off. I opened the case, all the fans seemed to be giving good airflow, so I let it continue to boot. It shut itself off about twenty seconds after windows was fully running, before I got a chance to check temperature sensors.
My technical proficiency with hardware is growing but I've never applied thermal paste or installed a CPU, and this computer's CPU/heatsink have been undisturbed since they were built (in 2009).
Is it probable that the heat-sink is no longer well seated on the CPU? (I am supposing yes)
I assume SH/SC has an apropriate thread but browsing unfamiliar sub forums on my phone is not super easy.
What do I need to know to pick out and apply the appropriate thermal paste? I assume I need to clean off the old stuff?

If you don't have thermal paste handy, pretty much any brand works (until it heats up and gets weird, stuff like toothpaste and mustard are comparable to many thermal compounds: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-January-2012/1468/5 ). So pick up whatever you can find easily and don't spend a ton on THE BEST because it may be a couple of degrees difference from generic stuff (which is about the same as mayo?)

I typically use arctic silver 5 or arctic silver ceramique because I bought syringes of them for 8 bucks or something years ago that seem to be nearly endless. To clean off the old thermal paste, mechanically unmount your heatsink (how you do this depends on what kind of socket and cooler your system has). Clean the top of the CPU and the bottom of the heatsink with something lint free (coffee filter, good quality paper towel, avoid things like tissues) with high % rubbing alcohol. If it's goopy I tend to do a lifting-rolling style to get the bulk off, then get a clean paper towel and wipe down to get the surfaces clean. After they're both clean and dry (should be dry very quickly with rubbing alcohol) put some thermal paste on the cpu lid in a pea sized dot in the middle and remount the heatsink. Don't put it down and pick it back up as you'll get air bubbles which may be your current problem (also your old paste likely hardened up some to make this more likely). Just put it down on there and do the mechanical stuff to get it stuck down. If a tiny amount of compound squeezes out of the sides it's fine. If a lot does then you may have used too much.


Here's a little video of a guy doing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rn0BqMyXBM

Note that when he removes it to check how the paste spread he's just doing it for the video and would then have to clean and reapply it to use his system.

csidle
Jul 31, 2007

I have a Lenovo Edge S430, but it's a bit slow compared to the Macbooks around me. I'm thinking of upgrading it by replacing the SATA hard drive with an SSD. The computer came with a 16 gig SSD drive used for cache and some other stuff, but I'm wondering if it'd be feasible and/or even possible to either put in a larger SSD in place of the 16 gig one, or just replace the SATA drive. I'm not sure if it'd fit. Anyone know?

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON

csidle posted:

I have a Lenovo Edge S430, but it's a bit slow compared to the Macbooks around me. I'm thinking of upgrading it by replacing the SATA hard drive with an SSD. The computer came with a 16 gig SSD drive used for cache and some other stuff, but I'm wondering if it'd be feasible and/or even possible to either put in a larger SSD in place of the 16 gig one, or just replace the SATA drive. I'm not sure if it'd fit. Anyone know?

Can't speak to that specific model but the 16 GB SSD for caching purposes is likely a mSATA SSD, which are both widely available and at about the same $/GB ratio as normal SSDs.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

csidle posted:

I have a Lenovo Edge S430, but it's a bit slow compared to the Macbooks around me. I'm thinking of upgrading it by replacing the SATA hard drive with an SSD. The computer came with a 16 gig SSD drive used for cache and some other stuff, but I'm wondering if it'd be feasible and/or even possible to either put in a larger SSD in place of the 16 gig one, or just replace the SATA drive. I'm not sure if it'd fit. Anyone know?

You can do either or both. Right now you have a 2.5" sata hard disk and a mSATA SSD. Your model of laptop's specs are on pg 26 of:
http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/edgebook_WE.pdf

The easiest thing is to replace the regular hard disk with a SSD. It would go something like this:
docs: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd024447
movie: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/videos/pd027000

plus moving the installation over with drive imaging software and a USB to sata adapter (or using desktop computer with two free sata ports).

If you want to replace the cache SSD in the mSATA slot that is also an option. You'd disable Express Cache software to stop it from using that as a cache disk and install another SSD in the slot.
The msata replacement is under the keyboard, see the bottom 1/3 of this page:
http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/pd024451

everythingWasBees
Jan 9, 2013




So I have a SilverStone PS07W Case, and it has a ultra-bright blue LED whose light bleeds through the side vent of the case. Is there anyway to dim the LED? Alternatively, is there a reason why I can't just unplug the LED from the motherboard.

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

everythingWasBees posted:

So I have a SilverStone PS07W Case, and it has a ultra-bright blue LED whose light bleeds through the side vent of the case. Is there anyway to dim the LED? Alternatively, is there a reason why I can't just unplug the LED from the motherboard.

You can just unplug it most of the time.

Gothmog1065
May 14, 2009
Does anyone know of a good capture card that has a BNC connection? I was looking at something like this (The first google result). Is this going to be sufficient, or is there something better/cheaper with decent software, possibly to DVR onto my computer?

Teledahn
May 14, 2009

What is that bear doing there?



Thanks Rexxed, you're the best.

Tapedump
Aug 31, 2007
College Slice

Titor posted:

I'm curious, how did you exactly find the number count? Did you convert the RAW values? How would I go about finding the detailed numbered information you found?
A bit late, but for those of you who want at-a-glance decimal values from CDI raw data...

Star War Sex Parrot
Oct 2, 2003

smdh if you don't convert hex to dec in your head

Factory Factory
Mar 19, 2010

This is what
Arcane Velocity was like.

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

smdh if you don't convert hex to dec in your head

I've got 153 problems but converting hex ain't one.

csidle
Jul 31, 2007

Rexxed posted:

You can do either or both. Right now you have a 2.5" sata hard disk and a mSATA SSD. Your model of laptop's specs are on pg 26 of:
http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/edgebook_WE.pdf

The easiest thing is to replace the regular hard disk with a SSD. It would go something like this:
docs: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd024447
movie: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/videos/pd027000

plus moving the installation over with drive imaging software and a USB to sata adapter (or using desktop computer with two free sata ports).

If you want to replace the cache SSD in the mSATA slot that is also an option. You'd disable Express Cache software to stop it from using that as a cache disk and install another SSD in the slot.
The msata replacement is under the keyboard, see the bottom 1/3 of this page:
http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/pd024451

Holy poo poo. I already contacted a local PC shop about having it done, but this looks like the easiest job ever. Looks like I can just buy an SSD and do the whole thing myself. Thanks a ton fo your help.

Ximen
Aug 18, 2013
I've currently got 2x http://www.kingston.com/us/hyperx/memory/predator dual channel because I hosed up when I first bought them some time ago. Their total capacity should be 16GB, but only 7.96 GB Ram is usable. Can someone here help me?

CPU-Z info:
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 16 GBytes
Channel# Single

Motherboard
Model: 990FXA-UD5
Chipset: AMD RD9x0 Rev 02

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Ximen posted:

I've currently got 2x http://www.kingston.com/us/hyperx/memory/predator dual channel because I hosed up when I first bought them some time ago. Their total capacity should be 16GB, but only 7.96 GB Ram is usable. Can someone here help me?

CPU-Z info:
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 16 GBytes
Channel# Single

Motherboard
Model: 990FXA-UD5
Chipset: AMD RD9x0 Rev 02

It could be a number of things, although if the memory's plugged in correctly you should have 16gb available. Do you have the memory in the correct slots? I notice it says it's running in single channel. The manual for that motherboard has an atrocious online version but you usually would put the ram in slots 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 (1 being closest to the CPU socket) to operate in dual channel. Have you reseated the RAM and tried it in different slots? Also, what voltages are you running at and what speed?

Ximen
Aug 18, 2013

Rexxed posted:

It could be a number of things, although if the memory's plugged in correctly you should have 16gb available. Do you have the memory in the correct slots? I notice it says it's running in single channel. The manual for that motherboard has an atrocious online version but you usually would put the ram in slots 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 (1 being closest to the CPU socket) to operate in dual channel. Have you reseated the RAM and tried it in different slots? Also, what voltages are you running at and what speed?

Thanks for the reply! Here's a paste with all the cpu-z info:
http://pastebin.com/QCEcLbpS

I've tried switching their slots to the extent that I can. And it doesen't yield other results than the current. Info on the voltage should be found within the paste :).

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Ximen posted:

Thanks for the reply! Here's a paste with all the cpu-z info:
http://pastebin.com/QCEcLbpS

I've tried switching their slots to the extent that I can. And it doesen't yield other results than the current. Info on the voltage should be found within the paste :).

I've done a little research and the main list of issues that it could be are:
1) You have Windows 7 Home Basic installed which has an 8gb memory limit - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7
2) Your CPU has a broken off pin - http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20120513011344318&board_id=1&model=SABERTOOTH+990FX&page=1&SLanguage=en-us
3) You have a faulty motherboard
4) You need to increase the RAM voltage - in your pasted CPU-Z link it shows the DRAM voltage is currently 1.49 (probably 1.5 in actuality). So you're not using your XMP profile but with 4 sticks of ram sometimes systems need a little more voltage to help. Go into the BIOS and up the RAM voltage a little bit. The XMP Profile will set it to 1.65 so that may be one way to go, but it's not guaranteed to work since it's supposed to be 1.65V to remain stable at the higher clock speed that ram is rated for.

I don't even know if it's possible to buy Home Basic so that may not be it. In the linked thread from the ASUS support forum the guy finally found that he had broken a pin on his CPU and was actually able to get a jeweler to solder it back on, but the other suggestions were made in various posts in that thread as well with regards to a bad motherboard or needing a voltage bump.

As an aside, you should definitely stop by the PC Parts Picking Megathread before you build your next PC. You've made a number of questionable choices with your current build.

Ximen
Aug 18, 2013
Current build is a work over the years, switching out old and replacing new as I see fit :P I'll have a look at the pins after I've tested your tip about the voltage. Thanks :)!

EDIT: My current windows version is Home Premium, so I should have access to 16GB ram.

Ximen fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Nov 2, 2014

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

My APC UPS batteries poo poo the bed. Any recommendations on what I should grab? Would generics from Amazon be fine for a UPS or should I spring for the real deal? We rarely get brown outs or black outs here.

MrMoo
Sep 14, 2000

Try http://www.refurbups.com surprisingly not as bad as one may initially think.

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rt_hat
Aug 3, 2003
YARRRR
I've got a stupid question about USB memory sticks and security.

Currently I work in an environment where we have a secure network. However, sometimes we need to transfer files between our corporate network and devices on our secure network. Say we're building a server for our secure network for instance.

We have a few USB memory sticks that are exclusively used for this situation. As in they never stray from our secure network and are virus scanned.

I understand that if a manufacturer or someone put in modified drivers on that device, they could do a lot of malicious things without anyone noticing. Should I be paranoid when buying USB memory sticks from well known manufacturers (Lexar, Kingston, etc) ? Would probably not use a freebie USB memory stick from a convention.

Or would it be safer to use memory cards like CF or SD through a USB memory card reader, assuming I trust the memory card reader ?

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