Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread II

[aimeeandbeatles]

Can't remember how to do this in Paint.NET, but in IrfanView you can bump down the color depth to 4 BPP and then save and it'll keep the transparency -- on my end the file came out less than 3 KB. If you find the option make sure the transparency in Paint.NET is 255 when you save.

Question: I noticed, on my router, an option for QoS (Quality of Service) engine. It was turned on by default. What exactly does this do? The description mentions gaming prioritized over web browsing. Should be turned off?

 

[dirtyparrot]

I'm going to be build a new PC soon (my first one). Anyway I've done a good bit of research, but wanted input on how to configure the SSD/HDD. I'll just list some of the specs:

Win 7 (64bit)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
Crucial M4 64Gb SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 64MB cache 6GB/s HDD

Is it better to use the SSD as the boot drive and the HDD for storage or should I use the Smart Response technology and just let SSD be used to cache frequently used pgrms?

 

[IglooDame]

I'm going to be build a new PC soon (my first one). Anyway I've done a good bit of research, but wanted input on how to configure the SSD/HDD. I'll just list some of the specs:

Win 7 (64bit)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
Crucial M4 64Gb SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 64MB cache 6GB/s HDD

Is it better to use the SSD as the boot drive and the HDD for storage or should I use the Smart Response technology and just let SSD be used to cache frequently used pgrms?

Boot off the SSD, use it as your OS partition and only put datafiles on the Barracuda.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

What firefox addon is the absolute best for blocking specific websites, that requires not only a password to remove said site from the blacklist, but also requires the password to disable or uninstall the addon as well?

And is completely free.

 

[KaiserElectric]

So I was installing Terreria, and I ran into a roadblock that it seems a lot of other people have. The problem is with Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 4.0, which won't install due to the error code 2908. Is anyone familiar with a way of installing this so the game will run?

 

[dutchfire]

What firefox addon is the absolute best for blocking specific websites, that requires not only a password to remove said site from the blacklist, but also requires the password to disable or uninstall the addon as well?

And is completely free.

That can still be evaded by just using chrome/IE/whatever.

 

[Souron]

Or by re-installing firefox itself. . .

 

[IglooDame]

What firefox addon is the absolute best for blocking specific websites, that requires not only a password to remove said site from the blacklist, but also requires the password to disable or uninstall the addon as well?

And is completely free.

Edit the Windows host file (it requires administrative rights), and for every website you want to block, put in the website name and point it at 127.0.0.1. It's not foolproof (they could potentially go directly to the IP of the site to bypass name resolution), but it'll work across every browser and cannot be 'disabled' without admin rights.

 

[Atticus]

Does anyone here have an opinion of Asus engt520-video card?

IT's reasonably priced, and has 1 gb of ddr3 ram. My PC has AMD Phenom X3, reasonably new Asus -MoBo and 4gb (or 8gb ram). OS is Win XP, but might be upgrading to Win 7 or Ubuntu.

I don't want to spend much money on video card, but on the other hand wouldn't want to buy one that is only slight improvement. (My current VC is Radeon 3650 with 512 mb).

 

[illram]

It depends on what you want to do with it. I am not familiar with that 520 specifically but if all you want to do is watch movies and browse the web it should be fine. Google shows it in the $40-$50 range.

Have you considered a 5450? Basically the same thing if all you want is basic media abilities, and it's selling for around $30 everywhere. Although I am not sure if Finland pricing is in any way similar to US pricing; assuming if it is cheaper here, it is cheaper there.

 

[GoodGame]

Boot off the SSD, use it as your OS partition and only put datafiles on the Barracuda.

This is the opinion I've mostly seen. Apparently the reason is that a small SSD with the boost technology is nowhere as good as a regular SSD for performance.




in other news----I killed my step upgrade of a Wolfdale computer in an over-volting attempt. I'm halfway building my new comp (upon which I'm typing):

Operating System
MS Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz 31 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
Intel Corporation DZ68BC (CPU 1) 27 °C

I was a bit disappointed with how challenging it was getting the Intel mobo running right compared to my past builds with other motherboard makers. The board didn't fit the case quite well, the external "bios" button didn't fit the aluminum cutout very well, and the BIOS video settings were finicky (BIOS only saw the chipset GPU if it was set to "auto" in BIOS, but not if it was selected to chipset specifically). Also it doesn't make POST sounds, but has a diagnostic code LED on the side which are probably less useful than POST feedback.

I'm still keeping it.



Is it just me or does installing Windows 7 64 bit take forever? I was expecting it to blaze in a i5 with 16GB RAM on all SATA connections, but it took longer than most installs of XP sp3 on a slightly slower wolfdale with 4GB RAM.

 

[GoodGame]

So I was installing Terreria, and I ran into a roadblock that it seems a lot of other people have. The problem is with Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 4.0, which won't install due to the error code 2908. Is anyone familiar with a way of installing this so the game will run?

Maybe try this?

I'm getting this issue too. Currently working on uninstalling all my .NET.

EDIT; Actually fixed it. Repaired my .NET Client Profile installation and restarted. Ran XNA redistributable 4.0 installer and it went through. Terraria is now running

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1892823.html



.NET is something that has had many patch releases.....so I guess it's possible you may not have been upgraded between two versions that weren't intended to be patched. Usually the the best option is to uninstall the .NET completely from the system, reboot, and the download and install a full version of .NET.

 

[NickyJ]

Can't remember how to do this in Paint.NET, but in IrfanView you can bump down the color depth to 4 BPP and then save and it'll keep the transparency -- on my end the file came out less than 3 KB. If you find the option make sure the transparency in Paint.NET is 255 when you save.

That did it! It isn't perfect, but it'll do. Thanks!

 

[dirtyparrot]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I listened to advice posted, although I really didn't have a choice since I had to RMA the HDD and figured I'll wait for prices to come down. Everything else went rather well.

 

[Yeekim]

My damn computer started acting up weird lately.
The damn thing just hangs at a random point and stops responding (except for cursor, which moves normally). Won't bring up Task Manger, won't open Start Menu, won't give me an error message. Nothing.

The only thing it responds to is a manual reboot. Annoying as hell. Virus scan gave me nothing. Pulling off Internet cable has no effect.

Any recommendations short of reinstalling the whole opsystem (I´m on XP, maybe it IS time to give up and move on with times...)?

 

[Silver44Guy]

Hello,

I really enjoy playing Civ 4 with huge mods like Dawn of Man on Huge maps with Marathon speed and I find the computer when it gets to the later ages just does not process the turns fast enough.

My current CPU is:

60gig sd
500gig hd

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/9/2012, 22:10:15
Machine name: SILVERCEASAR-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/12/07 21:35:21 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 5568MB RAM
Page File: 1222MB used, 4343MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 550 Ti
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1244&SUBSYS_15573842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 3520 MB
Dedicated Memory: 992 MB
Shared Memory: 2527 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: SyncMaster P2370H/F2370H/P23720HPlus,Magic P2370H/F2370H(Digital)
Monitor Model: SyncMaster
Monitor Id: SAM05FB
Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz)
Output Type: DVI
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 8.17.0012.8026 (English)
Driver Version: 8.17.12.8026
DDI Version: 11
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail

EVR Power Information
---------------
Current Setting: {5C67A112-A4C9-483F-B4A7-1D473BECAFDC} (Quality)
Quality Flags: 2576
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow half deinterlace
Allow scaling
Decode Power Usage: 100
Balanced Flags: 1424
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow batching
Force half deinterlace
Force scaling
Decode Power Usage: 50
PowerFlags: 1424
Enabled:
Force throttling
Allow batching
Force half deinterlace
Force scaling
Decode Power Usage: 0


What might I upgrade to make the turns faster? Or is it just a software problem?

 

[illram]

Weird. A Q6600 and a 550ti is low end these days, but for Civ4 I would think it would perfectly fine. I ran Civ4 on a e6600 dual core and a 5670 with no slowdowns... although I was not running crazy huge mods.

6GB of RAM is an odd amount... how many sticks of RAM do you have in there? Although even if you were running single channel I would think 5GB would be plenty...maybe open up task manager and take a peek at RAM and CPU usage at heavy load times in game and see which is strained. If there is not some other software related issue, which there may be, I am guessing it's the CPU but not really sure. Civ4 is weird. Do you have a ton of stuff running in the background?

 

[Zelig]

Turn processing will take a while in later stages on big maps regardless of processor. Civ4 isn't multithreaded, so an e6600 and q6600 will perform very similarly.

I don't think there's much worthwhile to upgrade to in that system - I'd ballpark that a modern (2500k) cpu would cut the processing times by about half.

 

[Atticus]

Yeekim: Try safeboot, it eliminates all the unnecessary things, and you can scan the pc again. Try also Malwarebytes' Antimalware. Before you give up with XP, try reinstalling it.

Illram: Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[GoodGame]

Turn processing will take a while in later stages on big maps regardless of processor. Civ4 isn't multithreaded, so an e6600 and q6600 will perform very similarly.

I don't think there's much worthwhile to upgrade to in that system - I'd ballpark that a modern (2500k) cpu would cut the processing times by about half.

Is that assuming overclocking the i5 about 4 ghz?