Recent Posts

3851

General Software Discussion / Re: The Portable Fix It Troubleshooters Suite from Microsoft

« Last post by 4wd on April 01, 2012, 07:23 PM »

I have it on a Flash drive but it still wanted to connect to the internet when I tried to fix a network problem on an XP computer and because it couldn't it didn't do anything.

3852

General Software Discussion / Re: I Need DC Input

« Last post by 4wd on April 01, 2012, 05:56 AM »

Now you can 'rest' until I need guidance for my Linux install! 

-CleverCat (April 01, 2012, 03:21 AM)

For the installation of Linux, I'd recommend you unplug the SATA drive with Win7 on it - that way there's no chance of partitioning the wrong drive or of LILO, GRUB or something being written to it and screwing up the Windows boot.  Afterwards you could add the Linux entry to the Windows boot menu using EasyBCD.

Or give Wubi a try, (which you can also add to the start menu, looking at EasyBCD).

But over to someone more knowledgeable than me for Linux. 

3853

General Software Discussion / Re: In search of ... a Gateway cure ...

« Last post by 4wd on April 01, 2012, 12:20 AM »

- but when I added the 2nd box to the network, both [apparently] came down with the same condition.  No way that should happen.

-barney (April 01, 2012, 12:00 AM)

Just to clarify, are you saying that:
a) the Intel Gateway was already doing it and then when you added the AMD Gateway to the network it started doing it, or
b) they were both running fine until they were both added to the network, or
c) the AMD Gateway started doing it when connected to the network and then the problem migrated to the Intel Gateway when it was connected.

Would it be a good idea to try them both when they aren't connected to any network, have them standalone and running a burn-in program, (eg. Super-Pi), for 12 hours or so.

That should isolate it to network related or not, then you can start by putting network settings back to basic levels, (eg. no Homegroup, etc.).

3854

Living Room / Re: Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by 4wd on March 31, 2012, 09:13 PM »

I don't think the mod of Restore Registry Wizard just means changing paths unfortunately.

-Carol Haynes (March 31, 2012, 08:35 PM)

Maybe not but the biggest change seems to be in the folder names, RegResWiz looks specifically for folders in System Volume Information starting with _restore.

Under Win7 they don't, they are just identifiers within brackets, eg. {FD721EA1-0DC0-4191-85F7-4D474E00E2DB}.

Maybe making the program parse the filenames within the folders will make it a little more robust.

3855

Living Room / Re: Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by 4wd on March 31, 2012, 08:29 PM »

Yes - it is under registry tools - called Restore Registry Wizard.

-Carol Haynes (March 31, 2012, 07:24 PM)

Found it, also found the source code in VB, (attached) - wonder if it's not too hard to update.  I would think it's only a discrepancy between the identifier on the files, (the bit between the {}), and the lookup he uses in the registry, (or wherever it hides).

Or maybe just a dirty port to AutoIt.

Hmmm found this:

These instructions apply only to Windows 7

This allows you to restore a recent windows vista/7 registry backup manually (note this could be up to 10 days old).

It is very similar to the method I used in XP but doesn't give access to all the restore points but it might save the day. Apparently these backups are made automatically.

-Carol Haynes (March 31, 2012, 08:01 PM)

I believe that's the backup that's used if you choose Last Known Good Configuration from the F8 boot menu.

3856

Living Room / Re: Best USB/Bootable recovery and "utility" tools

« Last post by 4wd on March 31, 2012, 07:09 PM »

In particular I miss the registry tool for manually applying System Restore points when System Restore fails.

-Carol Haynes (March 31, 2012, 07:16 AM)

Is this the same as doing this: Manually restore the system registry for Windows XP ?

I wouldn't think that procedure would be all that different under W7, guess I'll have a look.

Is it a particular program that does this on UBCD4Win, (couldn't see anything that mentioned System Restore in the Version History or Tool list) ?

3857

Post New Requests Here / Re: PC Time

« Last post by 4wd on March 30, 2012, 06:52 PM »

I use Windows XP. How can I list WakeUp events there?

-Knutchen (March 30, 2012, 12:34 AM)

I'll have to check further but the XP Pro machine I'm on atm doesn't appear to have any power events listed, which I find a little strange but maybe this is normal for XP.

There appears to be some ready made scripts over on the AutoIt forum so I'll see if I can adapt for your output requirements.

@4wd - thanks for putting that together! 

-40hz (March 29, 2012, 07:40 PM)

Thanks 40, I kind of like the Event Log in W7 - it and the Task Scheduler are so much better than previous versions.

3858

Post New Requests Here / Re: PC Time

« Last post by 4wd on March 29, 2012, 04:05 PM »

What OS are you running?

If it's Win7 then the attached Event Log filter will display WakeUp events, (which includes Sleep/WakeUp times), for the last 30 days.  Looking at the details for the events will also tell you whether the Hybernation file was written, (hyber.sys).

Open the Event Log and choose:
1) Import Custom View..., select the Sleep-WakeUp.xml file and hit OK to get back to Event Log.

You'll now have a Custom View called:
2) Sleep-WakeUp, you can select the events and save as a CSV for import into Excel, etc. for a bit of data massaging.  You just need the lines starting with Sleep Time and Wake Time, (the time is in UTC so you need to allow for timezone).



Event Source Kernel-Power with an Event ID of 42 will also tell you when the system is entering Sleep mode but doesn't provide much info on why.  I've only seen two reasons on my PC: Application API or System Idle.

There's also the free Event Log Explorer, (register for the free license), that'll work on WinNT and later.

3859

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by 4wd on March 29, 2012, 05:15 AM »

Personally I think the PSU/RAM bundle you mentioned is too cheap - you need a good quality PSU (poor/cheap PSU's are a major cause of intermittent headaches) and the best RAM you can find. Never had any problems with Corsair or Crucial memory.

-Carol Haynes (March 29, 2012, 04:00 AM)

Um, the PSU/RAM bundle he mentioned is Corsair.  It's the kind of deal you'd go for if you were building your generic business desktop.

3860

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by 4wd on March 29, 2012, 02:37 AM »

You could save some money by not investing in the Hyper 212+ from the start, as I said above, the stock Intel HSF is more than adequate for that CPU up to around 4.3GHz.  If further down the track you want to push the CPU a little more or just want something quieter, (you'll probably find that the GPU HSF will make more noise than the CPU HSF), then you could invest in the Noctua/CM/etc.

Unless you're a real audiophile, the onboard sound will be more than adequate.

Also, I don't think you can plug that CPU into that motherboard - the CPU is a LGA1155 and the motherboard is for LGA2011 i7, (just looked and you can't).

For the i5-2500K you need something like: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 - $224.96

So dropping the HSF and changing the motherboard will save you ~$100

If you then use:
Corsair 600W Builder Series™ CX600 - $49.99
and
2 x Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB - $99.98

You end up with 16GB of faster RAM, (PSU bundle only came with DDR3-1333), and you save $5.00

3861

Living Room / Re: JustCloud.com: It's All Lies

« Last post by 4wd on March 28, 2012, 06:41 AM »

...they just seemed to offer unlimited storage for free,

-Stephen66515 (March 28, 2012, 06:12 AM)

TBH, they don't say you get Free Unlimited Storage.  They say you get Free Storage and there's also Unlimited Storage, (for a price).

It's just the typical marketing doublespeak that's common these days.

3862

Living Room / Re: Windows 8 is just a Service/crapware pack for Windows 7

« Last post by 4wd on March 27, 2012, 07:36 PM »

Actually, "New Math" does work, and does increase my computational time...

-wraith808 (March 27, 2012, 02:55 PM)

I think I'd prefer any "New Math" to reduce my computational time so I can get on and do other things.

3863

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by 4wd on March 27, 2012, 06:54 PM »

I'd spring the extra $35 and get the i5-2500K - these things are probably the best 'bang for buck' CPU around, you can go up to 4.3GHz by just changing the multiplier, all on the stock HSF.

You won't need the extra PCI USB card, that motherboard already has 10 x USB2, (4 on the back, 6 on headers), ports and 4 x USB3, (2 on the back, 2 on headers), ports - so all you need is the backplane brackets if you require the extra ports.

Here's a USB2 one:


Regarding the case, (Ugh! - sorry  I prefer understated ones these days), since it's for a gaming rig - will you be carrying it around to friends and LAN nights?

If you are, then I'd recommend the Cooler Master Storm Scout - a lot of space inside for your build, good cable management and carry handles.

If this is a stationary object that wont be going anywhere, then whatever floats your boat - although one that has front USB3 ports to take advantage of the headers on the motherboard would be good.
These days, I would not think of buying a case with less than either 3 USB ports, (2x USB2 + 1x USB3), or 4 USB2 ports available on the front.  As an example, the Fractal Design Arc Midi which also comes with fan controller.

EDIT: Carol snuck in ahead: +1 for Gigabyte, +1 for Noctua but if you can't afford the Noctua coolers, (in case you want something a bit better than stock), then the Cooler Master Hyper series are good, (eg. Hyper 212+).

3864

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by 4wd on March 27, 2012, 03:50 AM »

Smoking takes 10 years off your life, if I hadn't of smoked when I was 20 I'd be 60 by now.

3865

Living Room / Re: Old Hard Drives

« Last post by 4wd on March 26, 2012, 04:14 AM »

Make a Tesla Turbine.

-4wd (March 26, 2012, 01:53 AM)

So what is that? Some sort of gryoscope-like device? What's the point of it? I mean besides looking cool/fun?

-Deozaan (March 26, 2012, 02:42 AM)

Tesla Turbine^w

It's a turbine, same kind of thing they hang off jet aircraft wings to make them fly, (different design obviously).

It's a bladeless, (normal turbines have blades), turbine engine with one moving part, the rotors.

Not only that but if you have it so the rotor shaft is driven, (instead of driving), then it becomes a pump that will handle gas or liquid.

3866

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by 4wd on March 26, 2012, 03:45 AM »

^ Good catch.

Swap the CPU for a i5-2500K, double the RAM (2x4GB), and use two HDDs and it should still be under $1000 and have a lot more grunt for pretty much anything.

You could probably squeeze a new Intel Z68 board in there also.

3867

Living Room / Re: I'm Going to Build a PC. Suggestions?

« Last post by 4wd on March 26, 2012, 02:17 AM »

One other thing I learned from my subscription to MaximumPC is that the AMD GPU's doesn't support PhysX that's included in cool games like Batman:  Arkham City.  So, I guess I'll go with nVidia.

-Carol Haynes (March 25, 2012, 09:59 PM)

An nVidia GPU isn't required for PhysX - it's only required if you want to offload some of work to the GPU rather than have the CPU do it.

With current model GPUs and CPUs I doubt whether you'd notice any appreciable difference.

3868

Living Room / Re: Old Hard Drives

« Last post by 4wd on March 26, 2012, 01:53 AM »

Make a Tesla Turbine.

3869

General Software Discussion / Re: xlsx corrupt file, password protected, can't open...need help

« Last post by 4wd on March 24, 2012, 07:39 PM »

...but with USB I need something a little more mobile and complex.

-superboyac (March 23, 2012, 10:03 PM)

Unfortunately with MS putting the kibosh on autorun.inf, (which was a good idea - the removing of it, that is), there doesn't seem to be an easy way to run removable based programs on insert unless there is a program on each host PC to initiate it - which shouldn't be too hard to do in AutoIt, (the initiating not the syncing).

FWIW, I use SyncBackPro on my PCs and it's set to perform backups when certain removable drives appear on the system.

3870

General Software Discussion / Re: No more WinPE?

« Last post by 4wd on March 24, 2012, 07:24 PM »

WinPE will be the first app for sale on Metro - just $2999 - a bargain!

-Carol Haynes (March 23, 2012, 08:34 PM)

Nope, can't see the smiley and it's a few days early........

3871

General Software Discussion / Re: xlsx corrupt file, password protected, can't open...need help

« Last post by 4wd on March 23, 2012, 09:55 PM »

I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned here is

-superboyac (March 23, 2012, 09:20 PM)

Backups...and lots of them.

-skwire (March 23, 2012, 09:46 PM)

On multiple devices.

3872

Living Room / Re: Google to Spy on Your Phone Calls Now...

« Last post by 4wd on March 23, 2012, 08:24 PM »

It never stops... Now Google will spy on your phone call background noise... yeah... sure... just the background noise... right...

-Renegade (March 23, 2012, 07:46 AM)

Just one more reason to keep watching pr0n while making phone calls....except now I can turn the sound up and have a legitimate excuse.

3873

Living Room / Re: NAS Recommendations?

« Last post by 4wd on March 23, 2012, 08:21 PM »

Addendum: It's arrived!  For size reference, it's sitting on a Sugo SG05 case, approximately 1.5 times the height of it but slightly less deep.



Oh, and I'm still alive...moose and co are very happy.

3874

General Software Discussion / Re: No more WinPE?

« Last post by 4wd on March 23, 2012, 08:12 PM »

Looks like they're going to make their online WinPE Builder service available as a free local executable.  

3875

Living Room / Re: NAS Recommendations?

« Last post by 4wd on March 22, 2012, 07:59 PM »

The HP-N36L is a very nicely configured box for the price. The AMD CPU lets you avoid getting into the ARM weirdness you'll sometimes encounter if you're going with Linux. And you can fit the HP P410 RAID card into it if you're the type that still believes in RAID for home use.

-40hz (March 22, 2012, 05:54 AM)

There's no way you could put together a unit with the same specs as these things - they are magic.  I've been itching to play with one since johnk mentioned them back here.

I'm hoping I actually live long enough to do that 

P.S. Luck with your wife.

Just got to work out how to get her out of the house when it arrives.

"What, that?   I've had that for years, just hadn't got around to using it."