Computer Upkeep Options

[Mommy]

Been having some strange issues with my desktop. Trying to avoid reformat/reinstall because I want XP, and I don't have access to a legal copy of it. Don't want to do the whole download from torrent crap. I think that's what caused the problem in the first place... downloading programs from torrents (not XP though. This is a legal copy I had a friend put on here.)

I'm open to suggestions... yes, even from Impala. I just want to know what tests any of you suggest.

Also, on a sidenote, does anyone know how to completely remove trial software from Adobe (I downloaded Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and InDesign). I do not want want to lose InDesign. I have a full version of that now. I tried the procedures listed on Adobe's site for removing Photoshop, but it removed crucial files needed to run InDesign. My god, their files are all over the place... The registry, everywhere. If all else fails, I could lose InDesign, but I would rather not.

Basically, I'm having 3 issues with my computer not including goofy error messages that sometimes pop up on startup. They are:

1) CD Drive will not read music cd's from stores or computer software. It will read and write on blank discs though. I have not tested DVD's. I did somehow get it to install NERO a few weeks back, but I don't know if that was before or after the issue began.
2) Screen tearing when my husband is playing WoW. Also, video card is running hot.
3) Random shutdowns while playing WoW
4) iTunes keeps uninstalling itself or doing other retarded shit (which doesn't suprise me). When I re-installed it this last time, it said "iTunes cannot open because there is a problem with your audio configuration. Umm.. My sound is working fine. My husband uses iTunes for his iPod. Sidenote: I still hate Macs.

These are the tests I have run:

1) Downloaded AVG free antivirus software and removed all found threats. Nothing looked that bad though.
2) Ran a read/write test through Sony on my CD Drive. Also, I re-installed the drivers through the site.
3) Currently scanning my computer with TrendMicro Internet Security. I downloaded the free trial. I have been really impressed with TrendMicro's free online scan, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to run using IE or Firefox. I downloaded the 30 day free trial of their purchase software. That is running now.
4) Ran Hijack This and cleaned all that up
5) Ran Systinternals Process Explorer to see what all svchost.exe files were running on my processes. From what I can tell, everything is legitimate.
6) Made a bootable disc through Microsoft to check the functionality of my RAM. About to do that once my system scan completes. Also downloaded Ram DEF 26XT to defrag my RAM
7) Re-installed the video drivers for my video card, but my computer didn't like that.
8) Removed video card and cleaned the heat sync fan thoroughly. It was pretty dirty. The fan still runs noisy and the video card gets hot, but some screen tearing disappeared.
9) Bought a new video card. Screen tearing stopped, but computer restarted again within 2 minutes of starting up WoW.
10) Restored to an earlier date several times... each time with it fucking things up more

I just think it's fishy that I would have all that hardware fail. The RAM is only a little over a year old. The old video card is like 4 years old, but it's a top of the line $400 card. It works better than a lot of the newer ones out there (minus the screen tearing that started occurring out of nowhere). The CD Drive is like 3 years old.

My guess is, I do need a new video card. Something software related is causing the dumping of the RAM which causes the restarts. I have no earthly clue what the hell is up with the CD Drive.

I do have a backup battery, but the electricity went out the other day, and I noticed it's only lasting about 30 seconds now if the power doesn't come back on. I doubt that power fluctuations could be causing the hardware issues though because it is sending consistent power... and, well, my hard drives are working just fine.

Any other software tools that are free that any of you recommend for cleaning up my system. I just want to be sure it's not software related before I go out and purchase new hardware. Last resort, though, is reformat/reinstall. I would rather buy new hardware and test that on the system before doing a clean sweep on my system. All the hardware I am having problems with, I can purchase from Best Buy and return if it doesn't solve the problem.

[Jim]

Been having some strange issues with my desktop. Trying to avoid reformat/reinstall because I want XP, and I don't have access to a legal copy of it. Don't want to do the whole download from torrent crap. I think that's what caused the problem in the first place... downloading programs from torrents (not XP though. This is a legal copy I had a friend put on here.)

I'm open to suggestions... yes, even from Impala. I just want to know what tests any of you suggest.

Also, on a sidenote, does anyone know how to completely remove trial software from Adobe (I downloaded Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and InDesign). I do not want want to lose InDesign. I have a full version of that now. I tried the procedures listed on Adobe's site for removing Photoshop, but it removed crucial files needed to run InDesign. My god, their files are all over the place... The registry, everywhere. If all else fails, I could lose InDesign, but I would rather not.

Basically, I'm having 3 issues with my computer not including goofy error messages that sometimes pop up on startup. They are:

1) CD Drive will not read music cd's from stores or computer software. It will read and write on blank discs though. I have not tested DVD's. I did somehow get it to install NERO a few weeks back, but I don't know if that was before or after the issue began.
2) Screen tearing when my husband is playing WoW. Also, video card is running hot.
3) Random shutdowns while playing WoW
4) iTunes keeps uninstalling itself or doing other retarded shit (which doesn't suprise me). When I re-installed it this last time, it said "iTunes cannot open because there is a problem with your audio configuration. Umm.. My sound is working fine. My husband uses iTunes for his iPod. Sidenote: I still hate Macs.

These are the tests I have run:

1) Downloaded AVG free antivirus software and removed all found threats. Nothing looked that bad though.
2) Ran a read/write test through Sony on my CD Drive. Also, I re-installed the drivers through the site.
3) Currently scanning my computer with TrendMicro Internet Security. I downloaded the free trial. I have been really impressed with TrendMicro's free online scan, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to run using IE or Firefox. I downloaded the 30 day free trial of their purchase software. That is running now.
4) Ran Hijack This and cleaned all that up
5) Ran Systinternals Process Explorer to see what all svchost.exe files were running on my processes. From what I can tell, everything is legitimate.
6) Made a bootable disc through Microsoft to check the functionality of my RAM. About to do that once my system scan completes. Also downloaded Ram DEF 26XT to defrag my RAM
7) Re-installed the video drivers for my video card, but my computer didn't like that.
8) Removed video card and cleaned the heat sync fan thoroughly. It was pretty dirty. The fan still runs noisy and the video card gets hot, but some screen tearing disappeared.
9) Bought a new video card. Screen tearing stopped, but computer restarted again within 2 minutes of starting up WoW.
10) Restored to an earlier date several times... each time with it fucking things up more

I just think it's fishy that I would have all that hardware fail. The RAM is only a little over a year old. The old video card is like 4 years old, but it's a top of the line $400 card. It works better than a lot of the newer ones out there (minus the screen tearing that started occurring out of nowhere). The CD Drive is like 3 years old.

My guess is, I do need a new video card. Something software related is causing the dumping of the RAM which causes the restarts. I have no earthly clue what the hell is up with the CD Drive.

I do have a backup battery, but the electricity went out the other day, and I noticed it's only lasting about 30 seconds now if the power doesn't come back on. I doubt that power fluctuations could be causing the hardware issues though because it is sending consistent power... and, well, my hard drives are working just fine.

Any other software tools that are free that any of you recommend for cleaning up my system. I just want to be sure it's not software related before I go out and purchase new hardware. Last resort, though, is reformat/reinstall. I would rather buy new hardware and test that on the system before doing a clean sweep on my system. All the hardware I am having problems with, I can purchase from Best Buy and return if it doesn't solve the problem.

How much RAM you have and what OS are you running?

[impala454]

- CD drive not playing music: Go to device manager and right click your CD/DVD drive and go to properties, then click the properties tab and make sure the "enable audio" checkbox is checked and that the volume is all the way up.

- Video card problems: What card was having the problem and what card did you buy? Did you try running the PC open so you could look and verify that the fan was actually running? Video cards do run very hot in normal operation. If you install new video card drivers, try un-installing the old ones first.

- WoW crashing: Try and shut off any and all virus scanning/firewall software and see if it makes a difference. WoW will sometimes see these as hacks. They also have a lot of info on their support forums. If the video card is getting very hot and you see tearing in the game though, that is most likely the issue.

- On all the other quirky stuff: What threats did AVG remove? It also sounds like you ran a lot of "system" related software to try to fix the issues. Lots of times those things can really mess up your system a lot more than they can help. Especially when you run a bunch of different ones from different companies.

Honestly IMHO format/reinstall is what I'd do. But since you don't want to, here's something that might help (will help anyone who's comp is running weird/lots of sw clogging up the system):

Go to start->run, type in msconfig and hit ok. Click the Services tab, then check the box that says "Hide All Microsoft Services". Now uncheck every box in the window. Then click the "Startup" tab and uncheck everything. Then click the main OK button and reboot. This will for the most part clean out all the junk that's starting up and background services you don't need. If you notice something like iTunes not working after this, just go back and look through the list and find that service and recheck it. I would strongly advise disabling all of them at first though as I mentioned.

[Jim]

From personal experience, your computer resetting during WoW sounds like a RAM issue. Are any errors associated with it? 131 or 132 specifically...

[Mommy]

1.5 gigs of RAM. no errors associated with it. Honestly, I tested the RAM and it's reading just fine from what I can tell. Pretty sure at this point it's the fucking motherboard. Makes sense though. This system is nearing 5 years old. My husband and I decided today that we are going to go ahead an build a new computer minus the case and hard drives. We are looking at an AMD Athalon 64 processor. Spending close to a grand. It will be a nice system though. Gonna go ahead and use our stimulus money and some other money on it. Once I can use the laptop instead of this desktop, I'll post links to all the stuff we are looking at.

[Mommy]

- CD drive not playing music: Go to device manager and right click your CD/DVD drive and go to properties, then click the properties tab and make sure the "enable audio" checkbox is checked and that the volume is all the way up.

- Video card problems: What card was having the problem and what card did you buy? Did you try running the PC open so you could look and verify that the fan was actually running? Video cards do run very hot in normal operation. If you install new video card drivers, try un-installing the old ones first.

- WoW crashing: Try and shut off any and all virus scanning/firewall software and see if it makes a difference. WoW will sometimes see these as hacks. They also have a lot of info on their support forums. If the video card is getting very hot and you see tearing in the game though, that is most likely the issue.

- On all the other quirky stuff: What threats did AVG remove? It also sounds like you ran a lot of "system" related software to try to fix the issues. Lots of times those things can really mess up your system a lot more than they can help. Especially when you run a bunch of different ones from different companies.

Honestly IMHO format/reinstall is what I'd do. But since you don't want to, here's something that might help (will help anyone who's comp is running weird/lots of sw clogging up the system):

Go to start->run, type in msconfig and hit ok. Click the Services tab, then check the box that says "Hide All Microsoft Services". Now uncheck every box in the window. Then click the "Startup" tab and uncheck everything. Then click the main OK button and reboot. This will for the most part clean out all the junk that's starting up and background services you don't need. If you notice something like iTunes not working after this, just go back and look through the list and find that service and recheck it. I would strongly advise disabling all of them at first though as I mentioned.

cd drive: won't even load those types of cd's. Its not a sound error. It makes all these weird noises and then when we check theh cd drive under my computer, it's not even showing anything running.

Video Card: Old card was an ATI 9800 Pro or something like that. Pretty sure that's it though. Case is open. We have had it open for the past 2 weeks. New card is an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS. Runs cool and no screen tearing. We are gonna take it back though since it's plugged into an AGP slot and the new motherboard we are gonna get will support PCI Express.

WoW: Yeah, I know this sounds stupid, but I don't have anti-virus software or a firewall. I don't believe in anti-virus software because it usually is more hassle than it is worth. I run usual scans but nothing that is running constantly in the background. Windows firewall may have been on, though. That's something I should check out.

The stuff that the anti-virus software removed was all tracking cookies. No serious threats. I only started running all these programs today. I downloaded utilities to try to maybe fix the problem if it was software related. I really think it's a hardware issue at this point. Old hardware that needs to be replaced.

I really appreciate your insight though. Definitely gave me food for thought. Definitely will try the last thing you suggested. Thanks

[impala454]

The 9800 pro was a damn good card in its day. Mine did eventually go out on me though so it wouldn't surprise me to hear the same of another one.

And don't kill me but I gotta chuckle at least a little over that same ol conclusion you always arrive at:







































"OMGZ IT'S TEH MOTHERBOARD!"

[Mommy]

haha i knew you were going to say that lol

well, my laptop did die from motherboard failure. i had it checked.

[Oasis]

pornaids

why am I awake right now

[woody]

3) Random shutdowns while playing WoW

Uninstall WoW

[Mommy]

Here are the parts for the new computer. We ordered them last night on newegg. The goal was to keep it below $1000 and have a system we can continuously upgrade. We already have the case and hard drives...oh and 3 fans.

Motherboard

Processor

Graphics Card

Power Supply

RAM (2)

USB/ Memory Card Reader

DVD Burner/Reader (2)

Windows XP

Thermal Glue

Case Fan

CPU Fan

Subtotal $904.88
Tax $0.00
UPS Ground $26.68
Rush Processing $2.99
Order Total $934.55

Comments?

[Mommy]

Oh and I have a question: I have 2 hard drives right now. One we are wiping clean (the main drive) and the other one will have all the stuff I want to keep. Is there a way to move programs like Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Office to the backup drive without messing it all up? I've never done that before so I just want to know. I don't want to lose these programs. I don't have access to them anymore.

If anyone can tell... I'm more of a hardware person than software person.

[impala454]

List of parts looks good. Only a couple comments:

-What case are you putting all this into?

-That's an enormous CPU heat sink. You might have trouble fitting it in. The heatsink/fan that comes with the processor should be fine though.

-Personally I'm not a big believer in the thermal paste stuff. The heatsink/fan that comes most processors already have a pre-applied thermal compound.

-if you're buying a media card reader, make sure it will read SDHC (newer high capacity memory cards). not a big deal though as they're like $15. Here's the one I picked up the other day:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820208398
Like I said not really a big deal, just something to keep in mind, as these cards are getting cheap and enormous and you won't be able to read them.

On the apps, naw there's not really a way to copy those particular programs. They install a lot of dlls and registry info. Do you have any others you want to keep? Some will actually work. If you have a bunch of addons/settings in WoW you don't want to lose, or don't want to have to re-download all the updates you can copy the entire wow folder and it works standalone just fine.

[Mommy]

I have a Chieftec Midtower Case. It's pretty big. Can fit up to 6 hard drives and 4 cd/dvd/other drives. Hopefully it fits. We want to keep this baby cool. I guess it depends on where the fan lies on the motherboard. I'll have to look at it again. As long as it doesn't touch the video card or RAM, it should be fine. The power supply and other drives are far enough away from it.

The thermal paste stuff I wasn't sure about either, but I know a lot of nerds who use it. Is it hard to apply? If all else fails, it was only $6.

Edit: Here is a link to my exact case.

http://www.directron.com/cherrypccase.html

Think size will be an issue with the fan and this case?

[impala454]

that case should be fine. just make sure you test fit the heat sink if you're going to use it. if you end up using the stock heatsink/fan do not put the thermal paste on it. it wont jive with the stuff that's already on there. also make sure you peel the paper off the pre-applied compound (yes, dumb to say but people do it, and end up with charred paper mess all over the cpu/heatsink).