Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Will upgrading my PC from 256MB of memory to 512MB make my WarCraft 3 gaming experience better? And it will also make the computer performance in general faster?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

YES. WC3 will run better and smoother, along with any other 3d games you have. And overall your computer should perform a little faster. If your on XP, upgrading to 512 is recommended as 256 is pretty bleh with it.

Although a video card upgrade helps, if you dont have enough ram, ram becomes the bottlekneck for the video card because the game has to keep accessing the hard drive more and more (virtual ram), thus degrading performance.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Well, I start university in September, and I decided to buy a laptop based on my brother's and others' opinions. I see many ads about laptops in magazines, online and in the newspapers which have varying prices and various features. I was hoping that I could get some help here about what features I need for the present and the future.

A main thing that I need is a wireless connection... Like a wireless LAN port is it called? Intel Centrinos have it built in, and I am pretty sure Pentium M processors do too. I am majoring in Accounting, so I need a computer basically for spreadsheets and wordprocessing, but I will also use it for internet use, downloads, instant messengers and movies (both comedy and pornography, haha).

Here are a couple of computers that I am scouting out now (all prices are CAD).


Horizon 1800 M $1529.17
Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor - M 1.80 GHz
MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP HOME
Notebook Memory 256MB DDR SODIMM
Notebook CY25 14" XGA BASE Unit
40GB 4200RPM 2.5" Notebook Hard Drive
24X Combo Drive For G731 Mode
Corel Productivity Software
*and I am pretty sure it comes with MSWorks Suite or something.... *

Visionbook Pro 6000 $1537.00
Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.30 GHz
MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP HOME
Notebook Memory 256MB DDR SODIMM
40GB 4200RPM 2.5" Notebook Hard Drive
Notebook CL50 14" XGA Base Unit
16X Combo Drive For G731 Model
Microsoft® Works Suite OEM
.NB System


This is from a place called MDG here in Canada. I have an MDG desktop here at the house, and it has been very good so far. So basically, I just need some opinions on whether or not these two systems are good, and any upgrades I could possibly need! Thanks in advance, and I'll check in with new finds whenever I can.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

As long as both are WiFi compatible, I'd recommend going with the first one. From what I've heard, the Pentium M's are pretty good for laptops since they dont suck much power and performance is pretty good.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

I'm considering upgrading my PC to make it more game worthy. I'm going to need to save up for a while to get all the stuff...or I could upgrade it instead of getting the iPod I want so bad.

But anyway, this expands on GM's question he asked earlier: How do I tell what kind of RAM my computer uses? Do I have to open up the case, or can I access it some other way?

Also, I desperatly need to upgrade my video card. I cant afford the best on the market, but pretty much anything is better than what I have now. Can you guys recommend a good affordable video card? Also, will there be compatibility issues? Like will my computer only work with certain video cards, and how do I check that?

I also want to know how to call up my system specs on my screen. I've done it before, but I forgot how. I would like to check my processing speed and my bus size, etc.

And lastly, is there really anything I can do to make my computer more game-worthy other than upgrading RAM and the video card? I KNOW my RAM needs upgraded...I'm running windows XP and I have 128MB...

Thanks.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

More RAM is a definite there. 128 megs on XP is horrible. Get at least 512. As for what kind you have, check documentation for computer if it came with some and see if it uses DDR or SDRAM. Since it has XP, I'm gonna guess DDR.

As for video card, tell how much your willing to spend. A 9800Pro will cost ya right around $200 but you get your best bang for your buck with it. If its around $150 or so, a 9600XT will be suffice but on newer games, you cant crank everything up. And your computer should be able to handle the video card you get. As long as its at least 4x AGP compatible, your fine.

And to check out system specs. Motherboard Monitor is a good program to bring up them.

What kind of processor do your have? RAM and video card are 2 biggest htings to make gaming experience better but If I know what processor you have, I can say you'll be fine or good enough.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

I found it. A pentium 4, but it's only 1.8. Damn, I wish my computer didnt suck so bad.

I'm going to look for that documentation you mentioned later.

And I might go for the 9800...I thought it was more expensive then what you said.

And do you have a link to that program you mentioned, or should I just google it?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Google it. Not too hard to miss ;) :p

If you check out newegg.com they have the more cheaper 9800Pro's (around the $200 or so mark). Or check out pricewatch.com and check other prices.

As for the Processor. Its good but down the road you'll want to upgrade to probably a 2.6 usually nowadays is a good point for gaming.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Thanks man. :) You've been a ton of help today, so I owe you some more rep.

Now I have to decide between souped up computer or an iPod. :( I have enough cash to do one or the other...But maybe if I can mow enough yards before summer is over I can do both.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

I have a big problem now, and my computer needs saved.

I'm having a big problem with virus's. Every so often I get popups from norton saying there is a worm or something in a certain file, and every time it finds this virus, it is "unable to repair". So I ask you, wtf is the damn antivirus good for if it can detect a virus but not repair it?

I was trying to play frogger earlier in the arcade, and I would have won, but I got like 4 virus pop ups.

I got a little pop up a while back saying something about a sasser worm. (I had updated my windows, I thought I was safe from this!) I got a removal tool, and then after it got done scanning, it said it didnt even detect it on my computer. wtf.

I tried downloading the AVG antivirus that zebra mentioned in another thread, but when I try to install, it says "shell.dll not detected" or something like that.

I know most of you will recommend to reformat, but do I have any other options? I'm scared that I'm going to lose something valuable if I reformat.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Boot into Safe Mode (keep hitting F8 before the XP loading screen thing comes up)..and when in safe mode, run norton again. It should be able to remove the file.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Thank you, and God bless. lol

I'll try that next time I'm rebooting. And now I owe you MORE rep! lol. :p

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Help!

My Internet Explorer died, it's gone, and I'm typing this using an Iexplore file I got from Limewire. The only problem is, I can't change my security preferences, and I don't get pop-ups (say I want to click on a link to a game that opens in a seperate window, won't work, white screen). I'm running Windows ME, but the thing is, I don't have a bootup or backup disk and I'm not sure how or why or even WHAT files got deleted. Does anyone know:
1. How I could fix this myself,
2. Where to download the tools to get it working again,
3. OR HOW TO SAVE MY COMPUTER!

I haven't played Heavy Cannon in a while now. Please help me.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Use Firefox or a browser like that. My IE slows my computer down every time it opens something, i still cant look at profiles for MSN because IE is the default setting and i dont know how to change it to Firefox.

I know none of that helps you, but its another question in itself.

How can i set my MSN profile viewer to Firefox so it wont open with IE?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

I took care of my problem. Something with XML parsers. +rep me.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Not sure on the MSN profile thing Typhoid, call MSN and see what response they give you.

As for IE, depending on what happened, you might have screwed over IE. Can't remember if ME has it or not, but you can try repairing IE.

Open My computer, go to control panel, then open Add/remove programs and see if Internet Explorer is in it (might be slightly variated). Click change/remove and click the option to repair.

I can't guarantee 100% its in ME but if it is, try it.

Other then that, you'll have to use another browser or reinstall ME..or just get rid of ME altogether :D

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

How I keep an MSN display picture, I have one I like, and wheneven I sign on, it has me using one of the default ones again, do I always have to select my custom one or is there a way to permenantly set it?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

I'm going to buy a G5 later in the year, the best card I can get for it is a NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL. In the spectrum of cards, is this one on the better end? It's $450 to upgrade to it so I assume it's pretty good?

The standard one it comes with is an ATI Radeon 9600 XT with 128 MB of DDR SDRAM.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

9600xt is for if you game but don't care about detail.

6800Ultra is if you want to game and have everything cranked up pumping out good framerates. In this comparison, I'd go with the 6800Ultra if you can spare the cash. If not, the 9600xt should be fine but a 9800Pro is alot better (not as good as the 6800Ultra)

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Hey...So, my computer made a long car ride here to Vermont, and now I'm a little worried about something. My disk drives are totally ****ED up. My D drive opens, but it doesn't read the disc (it actually did the other day, but it won't right now) My E drive won't even open, except it did the other day as well...I thought it was all fine once it opened the first time, but now it's screwed up again If something is wrong, would it be easily fixable? I don't see what could have gone too wrong but I dunno. I just got Sims 2 and I wanna play. :(

EDIT: okay, so I restarted my computer and now the E drive opens and works, but the D drive still won't read anything...I don't get it.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Help needed:

Okay, I built a killer rig for which specs can be obtained upon request, it's only missing "the toaster" and a few parts are sligtly not the fastest anymore but then I have a reason. I'm trying to dual-boot Windows ME and RedHat Professional Workstation with a RAID-1 Set up on an Asus P4P800 Deluxe Motherboard using the onboard VIA VT6410 RAID Controller.

Windows works fine, a phrase you don't here often the problem... is Linux. The RAID Controller does NOT have a Driver for "Redhat ENTERPRISE Linux WS Version 3" which is what RedHat Professional Workstation uses for its' drivers. I checked the VIA, Asus and RedHat sites. RHPW has very little support since it's basically RHEL WS Version 3 at a consumer price (Not RHL 9.0) so I need some help here.

Can anybody code a low-level device driver for me? Via's website www.viaarena.com has drivers for other versions of Linux if you need something to build off of.

There are a few "solutions" I don't want:

1. Upgrade Windows, I want ME, only ME and nothing but ME, no Win2k and no way in hell do I want WinXP -- no, no NO! Just WinME, please don't tell me too upgrade, XP isn't what I want.

2. Buy a new MoBo/Raid Controller: No Controller cards are available for my P-ATA HDD's (No SATA) and I don't want anything that involves upgrades, please this controller is fine, the system is loaded.

So if anyone can code a device driver for me (and any other 'nix user with this set-up) I'd appreciate it, you'll be helping the entire Linux community. I don't see SgtPikachu here anymore it seems so I'm hoing another 'nix user can help me, then I can get this ting woring.

Many thanks in advance, and while I could just run 'doze that defeats the purpose of building a dual-boot machine and using 'nix, I want to use this version of 'nix as well so again, please don't ask me to change the OS just provide a driver or someone who can provide me with one, thank you!

NOTE: last I checked Linuxis open sorce and anyone can code a driver without fear of a call from the FBI, unlike Windows where peaking at the source code is a major no-no that sets off alarms in Bill Gates' office. Thanks again! :) ~Cyrax9~

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Sorry on not replying Germy. Didn't think about it until now. I don't think the drives are broken. Best advice on if one works, then the other works is to reinstall windows in case its acting up for some reason.

As for Cyrax, I can't help ya there. Wish I could since it sounds like a good challenge but I don't have the "smarts" to use Linux/Linux based drivers yet to code up something

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Seems like they aren't broken...I didn't really do anything to them and they seem to be working fine now, I dunno.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Why would that be an answer to a linux question?

and by reading that, you are smoking something.. lol. gotta be the only person in the world to ever udder the words "i want windows ME" :lol:

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

i wish i could help you Cyrax, but may i just ask why you prefer not to switch to Windows 2k?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

On the spectrum of graphics cards, where does the Nvidia GeForce4 MX 420 fall? This is the default card that came with our PC and it's fine for WarCraft 3 but Sims 2 isn't really looking too hot and it isn't moving as fluid as I would like it to be moving. Since the 512MB of memory and 2.0 GHz processor exceed the minimum requirements for this game, I'm left to assume that it's the grpahics card that needs to be upgraded. Can someone knowledgable give me a good reccommendation for a new card? I don't want the VERY best, but I'd like something that will at least make the Sims 2 look good. Currently, this and WarCraft our the only games I play on the PC but I might get more down the road. So a card that'll last a few years anyways as far as being able to handle the ever-improving quality of games.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

A 9600Pro/9600XT is a good mid-range card for around $100-$150. It has enough performance for people like you who don't game heavily and don't need top of the line but wanna play current games smooth enough.

If you can spend around $200, a 9800Pro will do you well for current games and future games.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Thanks Jonbo, I knew you'd respond tonight :)

As long as I'm getting a new one, I think I'll just go with the 9800Pro. Will installing this be anymore difficult than installing memory? Also, I'm assuming I should buy this through newegg.com, right?

Edit: One more thing, there seem to be 3 different models: MSI, ATI, and Sapphire. What's the difference between these and which one should I get?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Newegg.com is good for 9800Pro's. Sapphire is a good brand. THis is the one I'd recommend. Just right under $200 and free shipping. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-268&depa=1

FYI, don't get the $160 or around there 9800Pro's. They are crippled versions of the card and have bad naming.

Since you have an Nvidia card right now, before installing the 9800Pro, uninstall/remove any nvidia drivers. After that, you can turn off the computer, remove the old video card and install the new one. Boot up, get the latest drivers off www.ati.com (the cat 4.9's) and then go from there and should go smooth. And it isn't too much harder then installing memory. Pop the old one out, pop the new one in. Make sure old drivers gone, put in new drivers and your done.

And don't forget to touch metal on the case before touching the video card ;) One false touch of static and your done.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

How I do I secure my wireless network so that my PC can still use it but neighbors can't. I'm not paranoid but I also don't want neighbors tapping my connection. I just ask because my computer is able to detect my neighbors and their's is unprotected so if I wanted I could just use theirs and mine's unprotected also so they could do the same thing.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Hey, I've got a pretty serious and troublesome monitor issue here...All the colors are very washed out to the point that GameTavern nearly looks like it's in grayscale or something. It's done this before, but it's usually reverted back very quickly and it hasn't done that yet. I'll post a screen shot so you know what I'm talking about it. I'm worried that this is one of those permanent things, but I don't see how this thing could be so fragile...Any help on what to do is appreciated.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Everything looks fine to me. Possibly a monitor or video card driver issue. Get either the newest Ati Catalyst drivers or if you have an Nvidia card, get the newest drivers for them.

And sorry for not getting back to GM. But I think what you may want to set up is a password for your network. Usually the software that comes with it, you can setup a password or I believe its called an SSID (correct me if I'm wrong),

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Germy...it's your monitor, not your vid card...cause if it was your vid card, the SS would show some abnormalities (which it does not) so it's you're monitor, you may need to degauss (sp?) it which you can do with the buttons on the monitor, or unplug it completly for about 5-10 minutes and let it discharge (by unplug i mean from everything).

do those things and post here again.



as for you GM...you need to set a password for the network...the SSID which Jonbo has mentioned is the name of the network you are connecting to ("default" by default)...what u need to look for is a "WEP" or "WEP Encryption" and enable it on your router...set a password, then set up the connection with the password...and you're done.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Ah yes, WEP. That's what I was thinking of. I just couldn't remember the name :eyes:

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Thanks man, I'll try those things tomorrow and report back. I've messed with the buttons already by the way.

EDIT: Hey, I did the unplugging method and it worked to perfection, everything is back to normal! :D Thanks again!

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

glad to help :)

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

Oi! Oi! Oi! I need help!!!!!!!!


i was playing Half Life 2, and at one point i got stuck, and really bored. I decided to see how well my computer would be able to handle all the settings on max. The game crashed and now i can't even get back in considering the main menu uses the game engine to produce the background!!

oh, and another thing, sometimes my computer will spontaniously reset while playing CSsource.. any help? I have an Athlon XP 2500+, i think it may be overheating...


please?

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

goto your settings folder and delete the config.
usually c:\program files\valve\steam\steamapps\[user-name]\half-life 2\hl2\cfg
delete config.cfg
start the game. - (you'll have to reset all your controls and whatnot tho)


2nd question....

Whats your powersupply? how much was it? brand? most importantly whats the wattage?


if you think its overheating tho, try taking the side of the case off so air can get into it. maybe point a house fan in its direction then see if it turns off on you like that.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

If your comfortable, open the side of the case and check for dust underneath the CPU fan. Sometimes, if you get too much dust under the CPU fan, it can really start to heat up the CPU. Heck, recently I noticed my CPU getting hotter and hotter so I opened the case, removed fan, lots of dust. Got rid of it off the heatsink and dropped my cpu temp from around 50c to around 40-42c now. A pretty large drop.

And for the HL2 thing, go to the properties for HL2 (in Steam window thing by right clicking on HL2 and choose properties), and add -console. That should bypass the rendering of the background so you can change the video options.

Re: Post your Computer Questions/Help
 

hmm, ok, i did what null suggested, and now i have a different problem.

i didn't completely delete the config file, but anywyas, now the game says that the file is corrupt or something, and so it says the files will be replaced by steam, except the windows then disappears and the process restarts.
ahhh!